Utopia of the Usurper Unicorn
by FablehavenFan
Summary: A powerful sorcerer is seeking vengeance after several recent demon attacks on fairies. However, his extreme methods to take advantage of Seth's powers puts everybody's lives in jeopardy. Story 9 of a 10-Part series.
1. A Learning Experience

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fablehaven or anything that originated within the books.**

 **A/N: This is the ninth story in a series I'm writing. Please make sure you've read my previous stories in order for the plot to make sense and to avoid spoilers.**

 **Due to popular demand, I have returned with a continuation to my series! While it was sad to hear that Dragonwatch has been delayed until 2017, at the same time, it has given me more confidence in writing a follow-up. Hopefully, I'll finish this before Dragonwatch actually comes out.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Learning Experience**

The morning sun was shining down upon the estate of the Fablehaven preserve. The picturesque blue sky was almost perfectly clear, save for a few scant clouds of white fluff that were scattered across it.

As she opened up the window of the second floor bathroom, Kendra felt a cool, yet mild draft of air flow in from outside. She stood still as the refreshing breeze flowed against her face and arms, and took a moment to stare out the window.

Glancing at the boughs of several trees that stood in the yard, Kendra could see that several of the leaves were starting to change color. No longer bright green, some of the leaves had now taken on a multitude of red, orange and yellow hues. Fall was coming, and there was no going back.

Not that Kendra had much to complain about. Sure, winter was cold. But it was already halfway through September. Her birthday would be coming up next month. And Christmas was only a few months away. She had plenty to look forward to. But today, there was only one thing on her mind.

Backing away from the open window, Kendra could no longer feel cool air flowing into the bathroom. The heat of the house itself would not allow it to get very far. Kendra then plugged her hairdryer into an outlet at one end of the counter.

Having already washed up previously, Kendra plucked out a stray hair from her brush, then proceeded to rake it through her long, light brown hair. After tending to her hair for a few minutes, she was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Kendra," came Ingrid's voice from the other side of the door. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," replied Kendra. "I'm almost done."

Her brushing nearly completed, Kendra hastily ran her comb through her hair a few more times. She then opened up the door and saw Ingrid, standing before her.

"Did you want something?" asked Kendra. "You were in here before me!"

Ingrid shook her head. "I don't need anything. I just wanted to show you something."

Ingrid gestured for Kendra to follow her down the hall, so she complied. After taking only a few steps, Ingrid stopped in front of Seth's door.

"What?" asked Kendra.

"Seth is still sleeping," said Ingrid, displaying a proud smile on her face. She then reached for the doorknob, twisted it and slowly pushed the door to Seth's room open.

Surely enough, Seth was lying in his bed, seemingly still fast asleep.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ingrid.

"He probably stayed up late playing video games," said Kendra, as she walked up to her snoozing brother. "Again."

"Should we wake him up?" asked Ingrid.

"We better," said Kendra, as she glanced at Seth's digital bedside clock, and saw, displayed in glowing red digits, that the current time was 8:32. "I think someone forgot to set his alarm again."

"Let's use this," said Ingrid, as she picked up a golden feather that had been lying on Seth's dresser.

The feather in question was actually the very first feather that Seth ever molted after becoming an angel. Although the lone feather did not seem to possess any special qualities on its own, it was still something that Seth and the rest of his family held in high regard.

Ingrid then stood over Seth's bed and dangled the feather over her brother's face. "Just remember, Kendra. By waking up Seth, we're doing him a favor."

" _You're_ doing him a favor," said Kendra. Deep down, part of Kendra wished that Ingrid would just leave Seth alone. The other was more interested in seeing what would happen. After a moment of contemplating, Kendra's gave in to her curiosity, just as Ingrid began to rub Seth's nose with the tip of his own feather.

"Hey..." groaned Seth, as he shook his head around with his eyes still closed. "Cut it out!"

"Goochie goochie goo!" said Ingrid, who along with Kendra, couldn't help but giggle in hysterics as Seth finally awoke.

"Ingrid, cut it out!" said Seth, struggling to bat his sister away with his hand. He then turned his head to see Kendra, who just standing there, laughing at Ingrid's side. "Kendra, why are you going along with her?"

"She's got a point," said Kendra. "Look at the time. You're going to be late for school!"

Seth turned his head over to his bedside clock, which now displayed that the time was 8:33. "Whoa! You're right! "

Seth quickly sat up in bed, whisked his feather out of Ingrid's hand, then glared at his two sisters. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of here!"

"Better hurry," said Kendra. "School starts in less than half an hour."

"I know how to tell time!" moaned Seth, as Kendra and Ingrid made their way out of Seth's bedroom.

Seth got out of bed and made his way out of his bedroom, stepping out into the hallway just as Kendra and Ingrid started walking down the stairs towards the first floor of the house. Paying them no heed, Seth made his way into the bathroom, then shut the door behind himself.

"I love my sisters," sighed Seth. "Both of them. But sometimes... I just wish... I had a brother. Kendra and Ingrid have each other. What do I get?"

Seth then took a quick shower. After which, he got dressed and made his way downstairs, where the rest of the family was sitting at the dining room table.

"There you are," said Mrs. Sorenson, as Seth took his seat at the table. "You know that if you're late for school, you're going to receive detention."

"How can I be late for school?" asked Seth, as he grabbed two pancakes off a tray in the center of the table with his fork, then set them down on his plate. "It's in the other room!"

"Try _not_ setting your alarm," said Ingrid, as she turned her head toward Kendra and nodded. "You'll get plenty of detentions that way."

Seth rolled his eyes, as he proceeded to pour some maple syrup onto his pancakes. The syrup he was having was actually cultivated right here at Fablehaven by Dale. Seth knew from experience that it was incredible, and while it was undeniably delicious, he didn't know where his grandparents always got off saying that it was _the best_ maple syrup ever. Did they ever actually conduct a comparison between it and other maple syrups that existed? He doubted it. Still, Seth had little reason to actually complain.

"Mom, you wouldn't really give me detention now, would you?" asked Seth. "I mean, I'm your son!"

"As are the rest of your peers," said Mrs. Sorenson, eyeing Kendra and Ingrid. "And even if they weren't, there will be no special treatment. And Seth, easy on the maple syrup. Your pancakes are practically drowning."

Kendra and Ingrid both laughed at Seth, whose plate was now filled with a puddle of maple syrup. In the center of the plate, Seth's two pancakes were now soaking in syrup. Prodding one of the pancakes with the tines of his fork, Seth felt that the texture of his breakfast had now taken on a more spongy feel.

"You'd better eat all of that maple syrup if you were so intent on pouring it," said Grandma.

"Fine," said Seth. "But I'm gonna need a few more pancakes."

Warren, who currently had a fork raised above the tray of pancakes in the center of the table, slowly backed his hand away. "You know what, I think I've had enough pancakes."

"Thanks, Warren," said Seth, as he in turn grabbed the tray and pulled it towards himself. "Now here's a teacher who doesn't make it his MO to punish people."

"Yeah. It's too bad you're not one of my students. But, you are one of your mother's, so you'd best abide by her rules."

"You'd better hurry," said Grandpa. "You've got less than fifteen minutes until your class starts."

"I get it," said Seth, as he took a bite out of one of his syrup-soaked pancakes.

"You're very fortunate to even be home-schooled," said Grandpa. "You know..."

"Don't tell me. When you were my age, you had to walk twenty miles to get to school!"

"In the snow," added Warren. "Uphill. Both ways."

After finishing their breakfast, the kids all went upstairs and brushed their teeth. They then made their way back downstairs and went into the parlor. Seth glanced at the mantel clock that was situated above the fireplace. It was now only two minutes until nine. Seth took a seat at the long wooden table that took up much of the room, as did Kendra and Ingrid.

A moment later, Mrs. Sorenson entered the room, carrying with her a few books and a small stack of papers. Taking a seat at the head of the table, Mrs. Sorenson set her belongings down in front of her.

"All right, class," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I trust that you all read chapter six of Promenade Issues, as I instructed you to do so yesterday."

Kendra, Seth and Ingrid all nodded.

"Great. Now then. Who can tell me what Jack promised he would do for Laura in return for speaking to his daughter?"

Kendra and Ingrid both raised their hands.

"Seth?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Uh, what?" muttered Seth.

"What did Jack promise Laura?"

"I don't... remember..." said Seth, trying his hardest to think about the chapter he had read that previous night.

"Seth, you read the chapter, didn't you?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Yeah, but I can't remember every little detail! I mean, do you expect me to remember what color tie Jack was wearing that day? Who cares?"

"Seth. This was the driving point of the entire chapter. It's an essential part of the plot. How can you not remember? You _did_ read the chapter, right?"

"Yes, I read the stupid chapter!" said Seth. "But so what? This book is so boring! I can barely follow it, let alone remember anything!"

"Seth, there's a reason I assigned you this novel, and not a comic book. You need to immerse yourself in a realistic setting. Not some fantasy world. I know that sounds hypocritical, seeing as how we live on a preserve for magical creatures. But there's needs to be a sense of balance!"

"So what am I supposed to do? The book is _boring_!"

"Well, we were _going_ to discuss chapter six today before continuing with seven," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But I'd rather you don't fall behind. So, instead, we'll skip to math for now. Girls, I want you to read chapter seven tonight. And Seth, I want you to reread six and then read seven for next time."

"Man, I wish I was in the afternoon class with Skyfrost and Firesquall," said Seth. "They never have to read stupid books!"

"They can barely read as it is," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But if they continue to learn, then someday they will be able to read _stupid books_ as well."

Seth went on to slog his way through the rest of his mother's class, in which they went over some algebra, followed by a discussion about General Custer.

Eventually, the chiming of a bell could be heard from the kitchen. Seth glanced at the clock, which now displayed the time of twelve o'clock.

"Remember, Seth," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You need to read chapters six and seven for next time."

The family then sat down at the dining room table for lunch, which consisted of a bowl of Grandma Sorenson's homemade tomato soup, followed by an egg salad sandwich. Once lunch was finished, and noon hour was nearly over, Warren, Kendra and Ingrid all grabbed their swords, which they kept in a cabinet in the parlor. They then walked out of the house and onto the back patio with Seth.

"Man, I wish I was in your class, Warren," said Seth, taking a good glance at the swords that his sisters and cousin were holding. "You guys get to have fun!"

"Look, I'd like to have you, too," said Warren. "But I'm inclined to agree that your angelkind situation needs some direction. And I just can't help you in that regard."

"I know. But I didn't ask to become angelkind. It all just... sort of happened."

"Well I'm grateful that it did happen," said Warren. "See you later."

"Yeah, bye Seth." said Kendra.

We'll catch up after class," said Ingrid.

"Bye, guys," said Seth, as he held up the Translocator in his hands.

Seth then twisted the Translocator, until it clicked into position. An image of his destination forming in his mind, Seth closed his eyes. In an instant, Seth suddenly found his entire body being whisked away from the surrounding locale of Fablehaven.

When Seth opened his eyes, he found himself no longer at home. Instead, he was now standing on a brick pathway, in front of a house with a cream-colored, dome-shaped roof. A few more buildings with similar architecture surrounded Seth, as did an assortment of well-tended plants. At the end of the pathway was the open sky. Seth had now arrived in the city of Wingadoon.

Seth walked up to the nearest house, then knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened up, and Seth was greeted by none other than his angel mentor, Hope.

"Good afternoon, Seth," said Hope, as she flexed her angelic white wings. "How are you today?"

"I'm all right," said Seth.

"I'd prefer it if you were better than just _all right_. You know that you need to be in good spirits for the best chance of achieving your angel form."

"Well, at least I don't have to read my mom's stupid book right now. There's that if nothing else."

"Stupid book?" asked Hope. "What is this book and why is it stupid?"

"Because it's boring. Please don't ask me to explain it to you. It's a chore just reading it."

"Seth, I can assure you that I won't make you do any more reading. Now, if you'll kindly follow me."

Hope led Seth down several stairways to a lower section of the city. Soon they entered a park, where Clover, Air Flair and a court of small fairies were all loitering around next to a flower bed.

"Hi, Seth!" said Clover, who was radiating a stunning green aura from her body. The smaller fairies all fluttered around her in excitement.

"All right," said Hope. "Becoming an angel is something that Seth needs to accomplish without it being forced upon him. Ready to give it a shot?"

"I'll try," said Seth. "But I can't do it alone."

"We're here for you," said Air Flair, as the pink pegasus bobbed her head up and down in a nodding motion.

Seth stepped away from the others, then closed his eyes. "Okay. Here goes."

Seth envisioned himself becoming an angel. He imagined that a pair of wings would suddenly sprout out of his shoulder blades. But nothing came of it.

"Seth, are you all right?" asked Clover.

"I'm fine," replied Seth. "Just need a bit more time." Clearly he wasn't having any success. He then thought back to when he first became an angel. The situation seemed hopeless, as an enlarged, power-crazed Murdred was squeezing Seth in his hand, threatening to kill Ingrid and Warren, both of whom were trapped and helpless. Not willing to let Murdred's influence overtake his body, Seth mentally fought against the darkness that had been inflicted upon him, which inadvertently caused him to transform into an angel.

Seth focused on that exact moment, trying to see if he could somehow replicate the same instance that caused him to become an angel in the first place. But it wasn't working. Even here, surrounded by a multitude of light creatures, Seth could not manage to assume his angel form.

"I can't do it," said Seth, opening his eyes. "I need help! I need my family! I need Ingrid!"

"Seth, we all love you very much," said Hope. "Certainly there must be a way to accomplish this without depending on something that may not always be available."

"Seth, as your cousin's wife, you and I are technically family," said Clover.

"Look, you intentions are good, but I can't become an angel just because it's demanded of me. We've talked about this over and over ever since I first started coming here for counselling."

"But that's just the thing," said Hope. "How is it that the love of one mortal is powerful enough to awaken the angel within you, when magical light creatures, namely ourselves, need to grant our power unto you?"

"What are you saying about Ingrid?" asked Seth.

"This isn't a criticism. But she is a mortal without any actual powers. Without any magic. Yet you have such a copacetic connection to her. If only you could harness that energy in a way that wasn't so reliant on someone like Ingrid. If you could just become an angel whenever you wanted..."

"Look, we're never gonna get anywhere without Ingrid here to help me," said Seth. "I just can't do it on my own."

"You win," said Hope. "Maybe someday, you'll master your abilities."

Hope and Air Flair both extended their wings outward, and they started to glow. Suddenly, Seth could feel as his own pair of wings grew out of his back ripping through his shirt. Within seconds, Seth was sporting his own pair of silky, golden wings.

"Sure, we can take the easy way," said Seth, reaching back to feel his ripped shirt.

"Let me help you with that," said Clover. She then waved her hand, causing green sparkles to fly out from her palm and onto Seth's ripped shirt, sealing it up around Seth's wings.

"I don't want us to cheat like this," said Hope. "But you do need to work on your angel abilities, regardless of how you achieve your angel form."

"I suppose," said Seth, as he calmly flailed his wings back and forth.

"Here's your first lesson," said Clover. "Restore this vase."

"What vase?"

"This one," said Clover, as she snapped her fingers, causing a blue, porcelain vase to magically appear in midair before her, before immediately falling to the stone path below and shattering into countless pieces.

Seth stared down at the broken vase, and began to focus on it. He felt as his wings began to glow, then watched in awe as the shattered pieces inexplicably all flew back into place, causing the vase to reform back to its original shape. The pieces then fused themselves back together, giving off the impression that the vase had never been broken in the first place.

"Very good!" said Hope. "You're becoming a greater angel every day!"

"I'm good at _being_ an angel," said Seth. "But _becoming_ one? _That's_ the tricky part."


	2. Life Lessons

**Chapter 2: Life Lessons**

Later on in the afternoon, everybody's lessons had come to an end. Mrs. Sorenson had finished teaching Raxtus, Skyfrost and Firesquall about the differences between odd and even numbers, as well as how to determine if any given number was odd or even.

Meanwhile, Warren had challenged Kendra and Ingrid to chase after Hugo, seeing if they could successfully try to maim any part of his body with their swords. At first, Kendra and Ingrid resented the idea, until Warren assured them that Hugo would not feel any pain, and that they could reattach any part of Hugo they broke off.

Kendra was not entirely looking forward to what would happen to Hugo should she or Ingrid manage to succeed at their assignment. And, because Hugo was constantly running around at a faster speed than they were capable of moving, she never did learn precisely what would happen. While Kendra and Ingrid spent the next two hours chasing Hugo around the preserve with their swords, the afternoon seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye.

All sweaty from running around, Kendra and Ingrid returned to the house. As they walked across the back patio towards the kitchen door, Seth suddenly appeared next to his two sisters, holding the Translocator in his hands. Gone were the angel wings that he had sported from his little excursion to Wingadoon.

"You girls look beat," said Seth.

"You try chasing after a golem for two hours, attempting to slice him with your sword," said Ingrid wearily.

"You guys got to attack Hugo? For real?"

"Yup," said Warren, as he walked up behind Kendra and Ingrid. Unlike the girls, Warren was not all sweaty and tired. "Course, it's not as easy as it sounds."

"Aww, man!" said Seth. "Why can't I get in on phys ed? You girls get to have all the fun!"

"It wasn't _that_ fun," said Kendra, stopping to catch her breath. "We didn't even win."

"It wasn't supposed to be easy," said Warren. "Besides, you're not in trouble. It was to test your reflexes."

"Yeah, and our reflexes were not up to snuff," said Ingrid, as she slid open the door to the kitchen. "Come on, Kendra. Let's go wash up."

"And lie down," chimed in Kendra, who wanted nothing more than to plop down on her bed and lay there for the rest of the afternoon.

"How was Wingadoon, Seth?" asked Warren, as Kendra and Ingrid stepped into the kitchen.

"Fine," muttered Seth reluctantly, as he too entered the house.

For the remainder of the afternoon, the kids all retired to their rooms and just let themselves flake out on their beds. After a few hours of doing nothing, Grandma Sorenson called the whole family downstairs for dinner.

"You have a good day at the office, Scott?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, once everyone was seated at the office.

"It went well," replied Mr. Sorenson. "How about you kids? How were your lessons?"

"A bit strenuous, but nothing we couldn't handle," replied Kendra, as Seth and Ingrid both nodded in unison.

"That's not entirely true," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Seth didn't exactly read his assigned chapter last night."

"Mom, I told you I _did_ read it!" blurted Seth. "Honest! I just... can't remember what actually happened in it! But I did read it from start to finish!"

"That's not good to hear," said Mr. Sorenson.

"He has to read _two_ chapters tonight," said Mrs. Sorenson. "So that he doesn't fall behind."

"That's just great," grumbled Seth. "Now I've got twice as much garbage to deal with!"

"Moving on," said Mr. Sorenson. "How was your afternoon in Wingadoon, Seth?"

"Not as great as you'd think it was," said Seth, as Grandma placed a plate containing a steak and vegetables down in front of him.

"Is everything all right?" asked Grandpa.

"Not quite. I'm getting the hang of my power. That's for sure. But I'm still not able to become an angel at will."

"Maybe it's something you just can't do," said Kendra, as she cut into her steak. "I mean, I can't become fairyprime all on my own. I need the support of others."

"Yeah, but that knowingly takes physical light energy. I've become an angel without the help of any fairy magic before. But I haven't been able to do it all on my own. I always need help. But why? I already know that there are people who love and care for me."

"Perhaps people just need to show it," said Grandma.

"But I don't _want_ to have to rely on others," said Seth.

"You know what?" asked Grandpa, as he held up his hands. "Let's not turn this beautiful dinner into one big debate. Seth, your angel attributes are something more attune for Hope to look into, not us. It's something that we humans simply are not very familiar with."

After dinner, Seth went up to his bedroom. Sitting down on his bed, Seth proceeded to reread chapter six of Promenade Issues. After reading through only the first two pages of the chapter, Seth groaned, then placed the book down next to him. However, he dreaded to think what would happen if he didn't read his assigned homework.

Regardless of the content, Seth forced himself to read every last word that had been printed on the pages in front of him. If he didn't understand a particular passage, Seth then went back and reread it, until the message got through to him. Seth felt that no matter how much he tried to tolerate it, a boring story was, and always would be, a boring story.

After what felt like an eternity, Seth finally finished reading through chapter seven. He wasn't sure how, but he did it. He figured that Kendra probably blazed through the entire book, to the point where she could very well compete in some speed-reading competition, and win. Nevertheless, Seth kind of gained an understanding of the premises of the two chapters he had been forced to read.

Now that he had gotten through his required reading, Seth set the book down on his nightstand. He then turned on his television and loaded up a first-person shooter. Only a minute or so after the game had loaded, someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," said Seth.

Warren entered the room. "You okay, Seth?"

Seth paused the game, then turned his head towards Warren. "I'm okay."

Warren glanced at the game on the television screen, then looked over at Seth. "You _did_ do your homework, yes?"

"I did. And it was a chore."

"It's only a book. You don't have to necessarily _enjoy_ it. Just read through the book and try to remember it."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to read it."

Warren smirked. "Seth. I've told you I have a learning disability. Math was never a strong point for me. I had to rely on a calculator for everything. But, after a lot of studying, I got better. Not great. But better that I used to be."

"But math answers can be figured out! If you haven't memorized what seven times eight is, you can still figure it out by adding up eight groups of seven."

"That's what I used to do. And I was bad at it. But I was eventually taught a trick. Multiples of five and ten make things very easy because they'll always end in a five or zero. So, rather than directly trying to figure out what seven times eight is, I multiply seven times ten to get seventy, because that's easy."

"Yeah, but I was asking for seven times eight," said Seth. "Not ten."

"I'm only using ten as a shortcut. See, ten is two more than eight. And I know that seven times two is fourteen. So just subtract fourteen, which is seven times two, from seventy, which is seven times ten, and you're left with fifty-six."

"Warren, I don't need help with math. I need help with reading."

"Well, reading was never a huge problem for me..."

"Oh that helps," said Seth.

"What I'm getting at is that you can always find a way."

"I bet I'd do well in your class," said Seth. "It actually sounds fun."

"It _is_ fun. But, at the same time, your folks feel it's more important that you learn to master your academic skills and angel attributes."

"And what about my combat skills?"

"You practically are a master," said Warren. "But I suppose there's always room for improvement. Tell you what. I'll speak to your folks tomorrow. See if instead of going to Wingadoon, you instead join your sisters in my class once or twice a week."

"Really?" asked Seth.

"Well, I'll ask them. But don't expect any miracles."

"Great!"

"You know, if you get into my class, I know what your first assignment is going to be."

"What's that?" asked Seth.

"I'll give a copy of that Promenade book to Hugo. Your job will be to get it back from Hugo and destroy it."

Seth smiled. "That book is toast."

"We won't tell your mother," said Warren, as he made his way out back towards the door to the room. "Also, try not to stay up too late playing that game."

"Understood," said Seth. Feeling a combination of both tiredness and anxiousness, Seth shut off his game.

After washing up and changing into his sleeping clothes, Seth climbed back into bed, switched off his light and closed his eyes. He tried not to think too hard about what would transpire tomorrow. But he tried not to worry too much. At least he had a mild understanding of what had transpired over the course of the two chapters. Hopefully, his mother would not be too cynical in regard to seeing if he had studied the book thoroughly enough.

Seth awoke the following morning, this time without any "help" from Ingrid. Glancing over at his clock, he saw that the time read 8:02. As he had gotten a good night's sleep this time, Seth would be able to get going much more smoothly than he did the previous morning.

Once Seth had freshened up, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Grandma was in the middle of slicing up some oranges at the counter.

"Good morning, Seth," said Grandma. "You're a little early, so breakfast isn't ready yet."

"As long as I have to wait, I guess I'll set the table," said Seth.

Seth spent the next few minutes setting a place for everyone at the table, as other members of his family started to enter the dining room.

"Seth, what do you want?" asked Kendra, as she sat down at the table. She could already smell the scent of hollandaise sauce the moment she stepped into the kitchen, and was now eagerly looking forward to having Eggs Benedict for breakfast.

"What do you mean?" replied Seth.

" _You_? Setting the table? Come on, Seth. You're clearly trying to get on Grandma's good side."

"She's got a point," said Ingrid. "I've known you only a few months and I'm inclined to agree. Kendra's known you your whole life."

"Warren and I have a proposal," said Seth. "Not that this has anything to do with it."

"A proposal?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your studies now, would it?"

"Let's just wait until Warren gets down here. It concerns him too."

A moment later, Warren came into the dining room, sitting down at the last seat at table.

"Good morning, Warren," said Grandma, as she turned her head over to Seth. "Seth, was there something you wanted to say?"

"Oh yeah! You see.."

Before Seth could continue, he found himself interrupted by the ringing of a phone. Grandpa then proceeded to pull his phone out of his pocket. Without answering it, he glanced at the display.

"It's Wesley," said Grandpa.

"Wesley?" asked Dale. "What does he want?"

"I don't know," said Grandpa, as he pressed the ignore button on the screen of his phone, which brought a stop to the ringing. "And until I've finished my breakfast, I really don't care."

Grandpa then slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Now, what were you saying, Seth?"

"It's about my lessons in Wingadoon," said Seth. "I'm getting the feeling that..."

Again, Grandpa's phone started ringing, cutting off Seth before he could continue.

"It's Wesley again!" groaned Grandpa. "This better be important."

This time, Grandpa answered the incoming call and placed the phone up to his head.

"Hi, Wesley. What is it?"

There was a long pause, as a startled look manifested itself upon Grandpa's face.

"Oh my god," said Grandpa, as he got up from his seat. "That's awful."

"Stan, what is it?" asked Grandma, as Grandpa walked away from the table and out of the dining room without giving a response.

"What could have happened?" asked Ingrid.

"I don't know," said Kendra, dreading the worst but trying to suppress it. But whatever it is, we won't like it."

The family waited several minutes for Grandpa to return from his study. No longer on the phone, Grandpa was now looking incredibly weary.

"Dad," said Mr. Sorenson, "is everything okay?"

"Demons," said Grandpa, as he sunk himself down onto his chair at the head of the table.

"Demons?" asked Dale. "What about demons?"

"It was last night. A bunch of demons found their way onto the Fairbanks' property."

"The Fairbanks?" asked Ingrid. "You mean those nice people who live near Atlanta in that big home with the fairy garden?"

"Precisely," said Grandpa.

"What happened?" asked Kendra.

"Well, neither Wesley nor Marion experienced it first hand," replied Grandpa. "But apparently, a group of rogue demons made their way onto their property and attacked the fairies living there."

"NO!" said Warren, looking fairly devastated upon hearing the news.

"The fairies!" exclaimed Dale. "Are they all right?"

"From what I've been told, they all survived," said Grandpa. "Thankfully, Brook was there to ward off the demons. Without her, the fairies probably would've been destroyed by the demons. Even the Fairbanks themselves, even if they were not the demons' target, would've been in grave danger had there not been a fairy angel like Brook to protect them.

"I don't get it," said Ingrid. "Why would a bunch of demons just up and decide to go invade a fairy dwelling?"

"How would they even know where to look?" asked Seth. "Isn't the Fairbanks' place protected by a distractor spell or something?"

"It is," said Grandpa. "Unfortunately, it's not a very powerful one."

"Why not?"

"Well, the Fairbanks' home is _not_ a secluded place like Fablehaven or one of the other preserves. Not only is it their residence, but it's where they invite many guests over for business and pleasure. Most of these guests have no connection to the magical world, so the Fairbanks can't have a powerful enchantment guarding their home."

"But how did the demons even find it?" asked Kendra.

"It's highly unusual," replied Grandpa. "Demons don't just go off gallivanting across the land, looking for victims. However, if they're already out and about, it probably wasn't too hard for the demons to detect readings of light energy provided they were in the vicinity. And the barrier that protects the Fairbanks' garden simply was not strong enough to repel the demons that attacked it."

"So why were there demons running around and looking for fairies?" asked Ingrid.

"I don't know. Something, or someone, must have provoked them."

"What happened to the demons?" asked Seth.

"Brook managed to scare them away using her power. But it's unknown where they went after fleeing."

"The Fairbanks," said Dale. "The fairies. Are they all okay?"

"They're safe now. Quite shaken up after everything that transpired, but they're okay, which is what really matters."

"What's going to happen?" asked Kendra.

"Well, the demons did cause quite a bit of damage to the Fairbanks' place. They're insured, obviously. Of course, demon-induced property damage is not the kind of thing that they can really explain to their broker. Beyond that, Wesley has already contacted Trask and is trying to work out a solution with him."

"I think that we should head down there and see the place for ourselves," said Warren. "See if there's anything that we can do to help."

"That sounds like a good idea. They could really use the moral support after what happened. Perhaps you could even gain some further insight as to what happened down there."

"Right now?" asked Kendra.

"Nice!" said Seth, clenching his fist. "That means no school!"

"Don't get too excited," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I can postpone your lessons as long as I need to. Don't forget that."

"Think of this as a little field trip," said Warren. "Instead of the usual class."

"Wait!" said Seth. "That reminds me! I never got to talk about my proposal."

"What about your proposal?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"I wanted to know if I could attend Kendra and Ingrid's training sessions with Warren instead of going to Wingadoon. Maybe just once or twice a week?"

"Seth..." said Grandpa, "this is hardly the time to discuss such matters. I've got a bunch of calls I need to make. And we haven't even spoken to Hope about the matter..."

"Well what do you mean?"

"We'll talk about this later, Seth. Right now, I want you kids to finish your breakfast and get ready. As important as your education is, this incident at the Fairbanks feels more urgent."

"But that book..." said Seth. "Mom, I actually read it like I was supposed to."

"Your grandfather's right," said Mrs. Sorenson. "The Fairbanks are good friends of the Knights of the Dawn. We'll worry about your lesson plan once this whole thing dies down."

"Let's finish our food," said Warren. "We've got a mission to do."


	3. Damage Control

**Chapter 3: Damage Control**

After finishing up their breakfast, Kendra, Seth and Ingrid made their way out of the house and into the backyard. Just beyond the end of the patio was Bracken. Floating a few feet off the ground with his legs crossed, barefoot and his eyes closed, Bracken appeared to be meditating, and was currently surrounded by a court of fairies.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra, as she and her siblings made her way across the patio towards Bracken. "Bracken!"

Bracken slowly opened his eyes, then casually turned his head towards the three kids. "Hey, Kendra. Ingrid. Seth. What's got you all worked up? Isn't it time for your schooling?"

"The Fairbanks' at the fairies..." blurted Kendra. "I mean, the fairies at the Fairbanks'! They were attacked by demons!"

Suddenly, Bracken lost his concentration and fell onto the grass that he had been floating above. The fairies that had been surrounding him all started to make high-pitched shrieking and whimpering noises.

"You can't be serious," said Bracken, he got back up onto his feet. "Demons found their way to the Fairbanks' place and attacked the fairies?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Ingrid. "We just found out ourselves."

"Oh no. Brook! What about Brook?"

"The fairies are all okay," said Seth. "In fact, it was Brook who saved them all by fending off the demons that showed up."

Bracken proceeded to hyperventilate for a few seconds. "Those poor fairies. I need to go down to the Fairbanks' right away and make sure they're all okay."

"That's exactly why we came to get you," said Kendra. "We're going down there ourselves."

Bracken then placed a hand upon Kendra's shoulder. "Thank you. I'm grateful that all of the fairies are okay. But I don't want to delay this any further. Let's go already!"

"Warren's getting a few things together first," said Ingrid. "Let's go back inside."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Bracken then turned back towards the house and began to head towards the back door. Suddenly, several fairies flew in front of the group and hovered around their faces.

"I'm sorry, girls," said Bracken. "But I have to leave."

"We know," said Goldenrod. "Please. Be careful. Those demons could come back."

"I'll be ready for them."

The group then went back inside the house. After passing through the kitchen, they entered the foyer, where Warren came down the stairs with his adventuring bag. He nodded towards Bracken.

"The kids filled me in on what happened," said Bracken.

"Understood," said Warren. "That saves me a bit of time. Come on, let's get going."

Warren proceeded to remove the Translocator from his bag, twisted it, then held it out in front of him. "If everyone's ready, let's do this."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Bracken all placed a hand on the Translocator, as Warren then twisted it again with his other hand. Suddenly, the group found that they were no longer standing in the foyer at Fablehaven, but rather, outside the entrance to a small castle.

Seth looked out at the sprawling front lawn and driveway that sat between the castle and the front gate, which was normally adorned with various shrubs, flower beds, hedges and statues. However, there appeared to be an extensive amount of damage to the lawn, as much of it was in ruins. Plants had been torn in half, small holes dotted the ground and a few statues had been knocked over, if not otherwise broken. Looking back at the castle, Seth could see torn flags and banners dangling from the wall.

"Oh god," said Warren, gazing out at the damaged lawn. "It's worse than I imagined."

"Come on," said Bracken, as he knocked on the front door. "We need answers."

A few seconds later, footsteps from inside the house could be heard walking towards the front door from inside, growing louder with each step. Once they came to a stop, the door was opened up by an unfamiliar man in a tuxedo.

"Can I help you?" asked the man, as he eyed each member of the group with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

"Lieutenant Warren Burgess, Knights of the Dawn," said Warren, holding up his badge in front of the man's face.

"I knew it was you," said the man with a smile, as he opened up both of the front doors and stood to the side. "Go on in. They're expecting you at the conservatory."

"What was that all about?" asked Ingrid, as the group walked through the front door.

"Protocol, I'm assuming," said Kendra. "Probably just a formality or something."

Seth gazed around at the vast front hall of the Fairbanks' castle. Unlike the yard outside, the hall appeared to be in pristine condition, as though the demons hadn't come anywhere near it. The furniture was all intact, as was the carpeting, paintings and portraits that hung on the wall, potted plants, everything.

"Why's it all tidy in here?" asked Seth.

"The demons attacked the fairies," replied Bracken. "Who live in the conservatory. Which is technically in a courtyard within the castle. So the demons wouldn't necessarily need to pass through the building to get to them... Come on! Let's go!'

Bracken proceeded to dash down a hallway, prompting the others to all follow his lead.

"The conservatory," said Ingrid, as they chased after Bracken. "It has a screen roof, right?"

"Yeah," replied Warren. "Because fairies can't stay indoors overnight. I'd wager that the demons climbed onto the roof, ripped open the screen and... uh... went to town."

"I'm not in the mood for silliness, Warren," said Bracken sternly.

Bracken made his way through the castle and found his way into the ballroom. He then made his way over the glass doors that were situated at one end of the room. Upon nearing the opened doors, it was quite apparent that the glass in them had been shattered.

Standing in the entrance to the garden were Wesley and Marion Fairbanks, both of whom were consoling Brook.

"Look!" said Marion, directing Brook to the group as they approached their hosts. "They're here."

"Bracken!" cried Brook, as she scurried over to her brother and gave him a firm hug. "I'm so glad you're here. It was awful."

"Brook," said Bracken, as he ran a hand through his sister's long, glistening, diamond-like strands of hair. "Are you okay?"

"The worst of it ss over. But the damage is done, I'm afraid." Brook then let go of Bracken and proceeded to give Kendra a hug. "Good to see you again. I wish it didn't have to be under such dire circumstances."

"Brook," said Warren, as the fairy angel released Kendra from her grasp. "Can you explain to us, in your own words, what happened?"

"Of course," said Brook, as she led the group through the shattered doors and into the garden. Immediately, Kendra could see that much of the flora that grew throughout the garden, including trees, bushes, flowers and more, had been ravaged, along with other pieces of decor.

Looking up, the group could see that many branches had been torn off of the trees that arced above them. Unlike the trees back at Fablehaven, the foliage at the Fairbanks was greener, no doubt due to the fact that Georgia had a warmer climate than Connecticut.

Beyond the trees, the mesh that normally covered the garden was missing. Warren's theory was likely correct. The demons had to have ripped it open in order to get into the garden.

"It started when us fairies were asleep," said Brook. "Only a few hours ago. Apparently, some of the fairies awoke when they heard the snarling and howling of demons, as they proceeded to rip open the screen and jumped in. The demons chased the fairies throughout the garden, tearing through anything that stood in their way. The fairies were completely helpless! Thankfully, I was soon awoken. I immediately transformed into a unicorn and exerted my energy at the attacking demons. Had I been awake in the first place, the garden would've been in considerably better shape than it is now."

"Why did you not tell us about this sooner?" asked Bracken.

"By the time we would've been able to call for help, the demons were already long gone. When I blasted them with energy from my horn... I'd never seen demons move so fast."

"Are you sure you're okay? And your pupils? Do you want me to get our sisters? Or Mother?"

"We've survived the worst of it," said Brook, shaking her head. "But I will keep in touch with them. However, we still have a problem here."

Brook directed the group across a tiny stone bridge that crossed over a narrow creek over water, no more than three feet wide. She then directed the group's attention towards a smashed stone structure, surrounded in the rubble of what was once a part of it.

"Is that... the fairy shrine?" asked Seth.

Brook nodded.

"The shrine," gasped Bracken. "We spent so much devotion into rebuilding it too. And not that long ago."

"They got to it," said Brook. "Before _I_ got to _them_."

"Excuse me," said Kendra. "But will the fairies be okay without the shrine?"

"They'll be okay. As long as I'm here to protect and watch over them. Unfortunately, with the loss of the shrine, they'll absolutely need me around in order to sustain themselves. But that brings up another problem. I exhausted a great deal of my energy whilst driving off the demons. And without access to a fairy shrine, it won't be easy gaining it back."

"Allow me to help you," said Bracken. "Kendra, you can help too."

Bracken proceeded to clasp onto Brook's right hand with his own.

"How exactly does this work?" asked Kendra.

"It's easy. Grab onto her other hand."

Kendra nodded, then clenched onto Brook's left hand with a firm grip.

"On three," said Bracken, "Try to channel your fairy energy into Brook. But not completely. Don't exhaust yourself or anything."

"Okay," said Kendra. "One. Two. Three."

Kendra closed her eyes and focused on directing all her strength into her arm. She then experienced a strange sensation of energy flowing all throughout her body towards her shoulder, then down her arm and into her hand, where should could feel it flowing out through her palm and into Brook's.

"Thank you," said Brook, after a few seconds had passed. "I feel much better now."

Kendra proceeded to open her eyes, then released her hand away from Brook's.

"I'm glad you're all right," said Bracken.

"What about the garden?" asked Marion. "Is there any way you could restore it?"

"It'd take a fair amount of power to fix it all up," said Brook. "Perhaps when I've fully recovered."

"Leave this to me," said Seth.

"You?" asked Wesley. "What do you intend to do?"

"Just watch," said Seth.

Seth closed his eyes. He concentrated strongly on becoming an angel, and envisioned a pair of wings bursting out of his backside.

A moment later, Seth's wings suddenly did expand out through his shoulder blades, tearing through his shirt.

"That's right," said Marion. "He's an angel now. But, Seth. How exactly do those wings help us?"

"Watch," said Seth. He stared at a section of gnarled plants and fixated his attention on them. A moment later, his golden wings began to give off a vibrant glow. The damaged plants started to emit the same golden glow, and in a flash of light, the plants that Seth had been focusing on had returned to their healthy, intact states.

"That's incredible!" exclaimed Wesley. "You never told us you could do things like _that_!"

"I'll do some more," said Seth. "Let me get up to where I have a better view."

Seth then flapped his wings, and proceeded to rise up into the air. He continued to flutter upwards, passing over the highest of the foliage that the garden had to offer. Looking down at the garden beneath him, Seth focused his attention on as much of it as he could.

Once again, Seth could feel his wings glowing, only a lot more intensely than when he had been on the ground. The glowing was followed by another flash of light, only this one seemed to encompass the entire garden beneath him.

Kendra watched in awe as the flash of light lit up, then faded away. All of the plants in the garden, from what she could tell, had now been completely restored, as though no demons had ever attacked. Not just the plants, but of the decor, rocks, tables, chairs and benches had returned to their original, pristine condition.

"How'd I do?" asked Seth, as he descended back down to the ground. Now that he had exerted all of that energy from his body, he was beginning to feel a bit weary.

"That was unbelievable!" blurted Marion. "You fixed the garden!"

Suddenly, a large group of fairies flew up towards Seth and started to cheer, humming in a harmonious chorus of bell-like voices.

"The fairies are very thankful for your aid," said Brook.

"As are we," said Wesley. "But, if I may ask... how in the heck did you do that?"

"It's part of being an angel," said Seth.

"Seth, I don't know what you're so worried about," said Warren. "You became an angel just fine. Why can't you do the same for Hope in Wingadoon?"

"I'm surrounded by people who love me," said Seth. "Of course becoming an angel here is easy. Plus there was a need to do so. But doing it in Wingadoon, it's just asking too much."

A fairy with sky blue hair flew up to Brook and began chattering rather quickly.

"What is it, Layla?" asked Brook, prompting the fairy to calm down and in turn whisper something into her ear.

"What's that fairy saying?" asked Ingrid, as Brook displayed a disappointed look on her face.

"The fairy shrine is still in ruins," replied Brook, as Layla flew off.

"It is?" asked Seth. "I thought it would've been fixed along with the rest of the garden."

The group directed their attention over to the fairy shrine. Alas, the fairy statuette had not been restored, and was still in pieces.

"Everything surrounding the shrine was fixed," noted Ingrid.

"It's understandable," said Bracken. "The fairy shrine is bound by powerful magic. I'm not surprised that Seth's power was unable to mend it."

"Let me try this again," said Seth. "Only this time, I'll focus entirely on the shrine. It probably just needs a bit of special attention."

Seth stared at the fairy shrine. Focusing intently, Seth allowed his wings to glow. The tension in his wings grew stronger, as the golden light that they emitted grew brighter. The feeling in Seth's wings got stronger and stronger, until it felt like they had caught fire.

"Ow!" exclaimed Seth, as his wings ceased to glow, bringing the pain he was experiencing to an end. He then collapsed onto his knees.

"Seth!" cried Ingrid. "Are you okay?"

Seth took in a few breaths, as his wings retracted back into his body. "I'm all right. Is everything okay? Did I fix the shrine?"

"No," replied Brook, shaking her head.

Seth looked back towards the shrine as saw that it was still in ruins.

"I was afraid of this," said Bracken. "Seth, fairy shrines are very delicate. They can't be built with magic, nor can they be repaired with it either."

"It's all right," said Brook. "We can build another shrine the proper way. Thank you for trying. And thank you for restoring the rest of the garden. We are all very grateful."

"What about the roof?" asked Seth, staring up at the open sky above. I didn't fix that. Or the grounds outside the castle."

"Don't worry about all that," said Wesley. "We'll take of it."

"What about the demons who caused all of this?" asked Kendra. "What'll we do about them?"

"I don't know," replied Marion. "But I hope you manage to do _something_. If they came here once, what's to stop them from coming back again?"

"Our best course of action," said Warren, "would be to track down the demons and deal with them, so that this doesn't happen again. Be it here or elsewhere."

"So, where _are_ these demons?" asked Seth.

"I wish I knew," replied Brook. "After driving them away, I was in no position to pursue them."

"Do you remember what they look like?" asked Kendra.

"No. Why?"

"I was going to suggest using the Oculus to find them. But it won't work if you can't visualize your target."

"Where would demons even go around here?" asked Wesley. "I'm pretty sure there are no preserves or fairy shrines anywhere else in the entire state."

"Who knows," replied Warren. "What I still want to know, is what drove those demons to come here and attack the fairies in the first place."

"What'll we do in case those demons come back?" asked Marion.

"They better not come back," said Brook. "Not if they know what's good for them. Still, I'd feel a whole lot more confident if there was a way to properly stop them."

"We'll stop them," said Warren. "Or we'll try, anyway. Our main priority will be finding those demons."

Wesley proceed to prop up his index finger. "That's what I'd like to know. How _do_ you intend to find those demons? According to Brook, they fled away hours ago. They could be anywhere."

"They couldn't have gotten that far," said Bracken. "And besides, Brook's attack on them should have weakened them. Combined with our abilities to detect darkness, we just might be successful in finding those demons after all."

"We're going to head back to Fablehaven to gather reinforcements first," said Warren. "Then we'll come straight back here and see what we can do about tracking down those demons."

"We can't thank you enough," said Marion.

"You've been very supportive to us over the years," said Warren. "We'd be honored to help you folks."

"I just hope that this wild goose doesn't lead us into something far worse..." said Kendra.


	4. Pursuit

**Chapter 4: Pursuit**

Having said their goodbyes to the Fairbanks, Brook and the other fairies, Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken went ahead and used the Translocator to instantaneously transport themselves back to the living room at Fablehaven.

"You guys startled me," said Grandma, who had been sitting down on a couch, as she placed a hand over her heart. "Is everything okay at the Fairbanks'?"

"There's been quite a bit of commotion, but things are kinda under control now," replied Warren.

"Those demons that attacked the place are still out there, somewhere," stated Seth. "We need to find them and take 'em out."

"You're going after a bunch of demons you're unfamiliar with?" asked Grandma.

"Brook managed to scare them off by herself," said Ingrid. "And we'll have the fairy dragons with us."

"Plus, we've got Bracken," said Kendra, as she gave the unicorn's arm a gentle shove. Bracken responded by quickly running his fingers back and forth through Kendra's hair.

"We're just here to pick up a few things," said Bracken. "As well as a few allies."

"Ruth, we'd love to stay and chat," said Warren, "but the less we procrastinate, the better. Wesley's probably on the phone with Stan right now. He should be able to tell you all that you need to know."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Warren all stepped out of the living room and made their way upstairs. Seth went into his room to retrieve the Pyruby from his dresser, as well as his adventuring bag. Meanwhile, Kendra and Ingrid went up to the attic to get the Emerock and Diavolt, as well as their two bags.

As the kids came out from their rooms, they caught Warren walking down the hallway, carrying in his arms several sheathed swords, as well as his own bag.

"Swords," said Warren, as he stopped in front of Kendra, Seth and Ingrid. "Fun for kids of all ages!"

Kendra proceeded to accept Vasilis from Warren, while Seth and Ingrid grabbed hold of their swords. Kendra then unsheathed Vasilis from its scabbard. Vasilis had changed ever since she and Kendra combined their fairy and angel powers while wielding the sword in order to defeat Murdred. The sword's blade was now spiraled, like a unicorn's horn, whilst the guard now resembled pegasus wings. Admiring the sword as it shimmered in her grasp, Kendra realized that this would potentially be her first opportunity of using it since facing off against Murdred.

"Is there anything else we need?" asked Seth.

"I think we're good to go," replied Warren. "Bracken went out to speak with the dragons. Might as well go and meet up with them."

The group then made their way back downstairs and out into the backyard. Standing beyond the patio was Bracken, now surrounded by Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall. Geminus was holding onto Vanessa in her arms. The group proceeded to walk across the patio and down to where Bracken, the fairy dragons and wyverns were standing.

"We heard about what happened," said Geminus. "Those poor fairies."

"Bracken just asked us if we could help you guys track down those demons," said Skyfrost.

"You know we will!" exclaimed Firesquall.

"Good," said Warren. "I'm glad that we can always count on you guys."

"Dale's still busy at the moment," said Raxtus. "But the fairies here can watch after Vanessa until he's free."

"We'll be back later, sweetie," said Geminus, as she placed the tiny purple fairy dragon down on the grass. She then opened her mouth and emitted a brief humming noise.

Within seconds several stray fairies that had been fluttering around within the vicinity all flew over towards Vanessa and proceeded to hover around by her side.

"Well," said Warren, as he wound up the Translocator and held it out in front of himself, "if's everybody's ready, let's get going."

Everyone proceeded to place either a hand or a claw onto the Translocator. With that, Warren twisted the artifact again, in turn hurling the entire group from the yard at Fablehaven to outside the front door at the Fairbanks' castle.

"Look at this place," said Raxtus, as he eyed the ruined grounds that stood before the group.

"The demons did all this?" asked Geminus.

Warren nodded. "According to the Fairbanks they did."

"So where are those demons now?" asked Skyfrost.

"That's what we don't know," replied Bracken. "Our only hunch is that they can't have gotten extremely far."

"Where would we even start looking?" asked Firesquall.

"Those of us with fairy abilities can try to detect traces of darkness whilst flying around. But again, we have no real hints as to where they could be."

"Great," said Warren. "Finding these demons is gonna be like trying to find Waldo. Or Carmen Sandiego."

"Anyone have any suggestions?" asked Ingrid.

"We should probably split up," said Kendra. At least that way, we'll cover more ground."

"Let's split into groups of two," said Bracken. "Not everyone here has the power to detect darkness."

"I think I should be in one group, while Geminus goes with the other," said Raxtus.

"Okay," said Geminus. "Skyfrost. Firesquall. You two split up as well."

"Got it," said Skyfrost.

"Group one will be Kendra, myself, Bracken, Raxtus and Firesquall," said Warren. "Group two will be Seth, Ingrid, Geminus and Skyfrost."

"Wait a moment," said Seth. "That's not fair! You guys get Bracken! Who do we get?"

"Seth I know this isn't easy," said Warren. "But I do have faith in you guys, or else I never would've paired us up like this. However, you do make a good point. Kendra, maybe you should let your brother use Vasilis for the moment. I know it resonates better with you, but still."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she removed the sword and its sheath from her back. Likewise, Seth did the same with his sword. The two siblings then exchanged swords and placed the sheaths on their backs.

"Seth, don't forget this," said Kendra, as she reached into her bag and pulled out Bracken's coin, then tossed it over to Seth, who caught it in a one-handed catch.

"Good," said Seth. "We'll keep in touch."

"Is everybody ready?" asked Bracken.

"Seems like it," said Warren, as he climbed up onto Firesquall.

Skyfrost bent down, allowing Seth to get up onto his back, while Ingrid made her way up onto Geminus. Likewise, Kendra got onto Raxtus' back, while Bracken sat down behind her.

"Looks like we're good," said Warren. "Bracken. Raxtus. Geminus. We're counting on your to do your best."

All four dragons stretched out their wings, and proceeded to soar up into the air. Soon they were floating in the air, roughly two-hundred feet above the Fairbanks' estate, which was surrounded by hills and fields in every direction.

"This isn't going to be easy," said Warren. "Geminus and Skyfrost, you two fly out in t _hat_ direction and see what you can find."

As he spoke, Warren pointed off in the distance.

"And stay close together at all times. The rest of us will go off in _that_ direction."

Warren then pointed in the opposite direction from which he had first pointed.

"We're ready," said Seth.

"Take care," said Geminus. "All of you!"

"And good luck," said Kendra.

"Kendra, if you're gonna be passing out luck, I really hope you saved some for us, too," said Warren.

The two groups waved a final farewell to each other, then flew off in their assigned directions.

Raxtus soared through the air, as Firesquall flew right alongside him. With no real destination in mind, the platinum fairy dragon did not opt to fly in a straight line. Instead, he found himself constantly swerving back and forth, almost in a zigzag formation. Every so often, Raxtus would change his general direction.

Although she was fairykind, Kendra did not innately possess the tracking abilities that other fairy creatures, including unicorns and fairy dragons had. Having to rely entirely on them, Kendra could not comprehend just by looking looking at the faces of Raxtus and Bracken just what exactly they were experiencing at the moment.

"Anyone found anything?" asked Firesquall, turning his head to face Raxtus and his flyers.

"I wish," replied Bracken. "This whole area is just so... _vast_.

"I just wish we had a better way to do this whole thing," said Warren. "I don't know about you guys, but right now this just feels so hopeless."

"We can't just give up, though." said Kendra. We can't just let those demons continue to roam free. Who knows what other sort of trouble they can get into."

"Not only that," said Bracken. "But we still know next to nothing about these demons. They just showed up at the Fairbanks'. We don't know how they got there, or where they came from. Or if they caused any sort of chaos prior to all that."

Meanwhile, the other group consisting of Seth, Ingrid, Skyfrost and Geminus had been flying over another section of the countryside. As with the first group, they too had been flying around rather aimlessly, with no real destination for them to pursue.

"How long is this going to take?" asked Seth, who was too agitated to experience the sensation of the wind rushing through his hair.

"Hard to say," replied Geminus. "I could be out here for days and not find anything."

"Would it help if you flew closer to the ground while you searched?" asked Ingrid.

"Not really. Besides, it helps for me to be higher up to sense abroad like this."

"We're going nowhere fast," groaned Seth. "Can't we go any faster?"

"Seth, this requires a lot of concentration on my end," stated Geminus. "If I go much faster, I won't be able to focus properly."

"I'll give you a boost," said Skyfrost, as he veered himself in front of Geminus. "Come on! Just grab hold of my tail!"

"Absolutely not, Skyfrost," said Geminus. "I know you. You're going to want to tow me across the sky at breakneck speed."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I really need to go at my own pace for this. If I move too fast, I won't be able to get a proper reading of the area below me."

"Fine," said Skyfrost. "Have it your way."

"Hey, is that a city over there?" asked Ingrid, pointing off into the distance.

Seth gazed over at the direction in which Ingrid had pointed. Surely enough, he could see a few officer towers along the horizon, roughly a few miles away. Surrounding the towers appeared to be several acres of smaller buildings.

"What city _is_ that?" asked Geminus.

"Possibly Atlanta," said Seth, who knew that the Fairbanks lived somewhere outside the aforementioned burg.

"You think the demons might've gone there?" asked Ingrid.

"I doubt it," replied Geminus. "Demons generally try to keep out of heavily civilized areas. Unless there's some sort of unusual draw, even they know not to get involved in human society."

"So if those demons are not in the city," said Skyfrost, "do you think maybe they went off in another direction?"

"Maybe. Or, maybe they went around they city, and are somewhere beyond it."

Seth moaned. "Aww, this is stupid! Those demons could be literally anywhere! Why are we even wasting our time like this?

"We shouldn't just quit," said Ingrid. "Those demons are still out there somewhere."

Geminus continued to fly around for a few hours. Eventually she soared down toward the outskirts of a small town, prompting Skyfrost to follow her. They came to a landing in a grove, located about a hundred feet from the furthest outskirts of the town.

Geminus and Skyfrost both remained in the grove, while Seth and Ingrid walked into the town to pick up some lunch. They returned roughly twenty minutes later, carrying several bags with them.

"All right!" said Skyfrost, who was eyeing the bags that Seth and Ingrid had been holding. "Lunch!"

Seth dumped the contents of the two bags he had been holding onto the ground in front of Skyfrost and Geminus. Each bag had contained a large bundle wrapped in paper.

Skyfrost stuck up his tongue, then licked his lips. "Mmm... I smell salmon!"

Seth nodded. "I bought a dozen. I hope that's enough for the two of you."

Skyfrost grabbed hold of one of the bundles with his claws and ripped it open. Six fish slipped out of the torn paper and onto the grass.

"Yes!" said Skyfrost, as he bent his head down and began to inhale the fish that had fallen to the ground.

"These are lovely," said Geminus, who had torn only a small slit into her bundle. Using her free claw, she fed a fish into her mouth.

Seth and Ingrid both sat down on the grass and opened the bag that Ingrid had been carrying. They proceeded to remove two plastic containers of sushi from the bag.

"What is that stuff?" asked Skyfrost, who had already eaten all of his lunch, and was now eyeing Seth and Ingrid's food.

"I'd tell you it's raw fish," replied Seth. "But... never mind."

After eating their lunch, the group resumed their search. They continued to fly around the countryside, soaring back and forth, right and left, near and far, so many times, that Seth completely lost of track where they were, as well as were they would ultimately be heading. After a while, Seth could even see that the sun was starting to set. Although he could now determine which direction was west, it would be of no use to anyone in helping to find the demons.

" _Hello?"_ came Bracken's voice, which came as a sudden shock to Seth.

"Bracken?" asked Ingrid, who looked somewhat startled.

"It's his coin," said Seth, as he reached into his bag and took out the unicorn's magical coin, then held it up to his face. "We're here, Bracken."

" _You guys find anything?_ "

"Nada. No demons or any any signs of them. If we'd have found anything, we'd have told you right away."

Bracken sighed. " _I was afraid of that. We were unable to find anything as well. Look, we've been flying around all day. Warren says we should just admit defeat and head back home. I and the rest of our team are inclined to agree with him._ "

"Me too," said Ingrid. "I just wish we'd have been able to find those demons."

" _We'll meet you back at the Fairbanks'. See you later._ "

"The Fairbanks?" muttered Seth. "We don't know where that is! Let alone where we even are!"

"Relax, Seth," said Skyfrost. "That's something we know how to find."

The dragons made a turn and continued flying forward for roughly half an hour. Before long, they began to descend down towards the ground. Surely enough, Seth could see that the Fairbanks' estate was now within sight, as indicated by the impressive castle that stood on it.

"I don't believe it," said Ingrid. "How'd you dragons just _find_ this place? We've flying about in the middle of nowhere all day."

"Call it dragon intuition," said Skyfrost.

"Too bad that intuition can't be used to find demons," said Seth. " _That_ would've been useful."

"To be fair," said Geminus, "we know where the Fairbanks' place is located.. Also, it helps that it's stationary."

Soon the dragons had reached the grounds outside the front entrance to the Fairbanks' castle. Already waiting there for them was the other team.

"A whole day," said Warren. "Wasted."

"It's not so bad," said Kendra. "At least we know there's no demons anywhere remotely near the Fairbanks' place."

"You guys made good time," said Firesquall. "We just got here less than five minutes ago ourselves."

Seth stared around at the surrounding yard. The damage that had been done to it earlier was apparently gone. If Seth had to harbor a guess, it was that Brook had been able to restore the place back to normal sometime during the course of the day.

"We might as well just head back home," said Warren, as he pulled the Translocator out of his bag.

The group then used the Translocator, which instantly whisked them away from the Fairbanks' home and into the yard back at Fablehaven.

"What a day..." said Raxtus. "I could use a little rest."

"Thank you for your help," said Kendra. "All of you."

The dragons then bounced back into the air and proceeded to soar over towards the cave located behind the house. Meanwhile, Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken and made their way inside the house.

"You're back," said Dale. "How'd it go?"

"No success," replied Warren, shaking his head.

"Ruth's making dinner. It's almost ready. You guys are just in time."

The group took turns using the bathrooms to wash up. They then made their way into the dining room, where they joined the rest of the family at the dinner table. For dinner, Grandma had prepared veal chops.

"I heard about what happened," said Grandpa. "I'm sorry that you were unsuccessful in your search."

"We're not gonna keep looking for those demons again, are we?" asked Seth.

"Heavens, no. I'm sorry that you wasted your day searching for them. Unless we get another lead on those demons, I'm willing to consider their pursuit to be a lost cause."

Seth thought to himself. Today had been boring, sure. But at least for him, it still felt better than having to read another chapter of _Promenade Issues_.

"But there's still demons running around out there," said Mrs. Sorenson. "What's going to happen to them?"

"It's out of our control, now," said Bracken. "But I'm not too worried. There's quite a few rogue demons all over the world at any given time."

"Gee, Bracken," said Seth. "That sounds _really_ reassuring."

"Well, with any luck, these demons will just keep to themselves from here on out. I can only hope that they've learned to stay away from the Fairbanks' place. The only reason they were drawn there in the first place was because of the fairy garden."

A moment later, Grandpa's cell phone began to ring. He then took it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.

"It's Glenn Landry," said Grandpa as he answered the phone, disregarding the fact that he was sitting at the supper table with his family. "Hello?"

The was a brief pause. Suddenly, a shocked expression appeared on Grandpa's face. "What? You're kidding. Oh my god. I'm so sorry. You heard about the Fairbanks', yes? Oh dear. I understand. I'll let them know. Yeah. I'll call you back."

"What was that about?" asked Grandma.

Grandpa shook his head. "Some demons just attacked the fairy shrine that's at the Landry's place."


	5. The Demons Are Revolting

**Chapter 5: The Demons Are Revolting**

Everyone who had been sitting at the dinner table had been absolutely dumbstruck by what Grandpa had just announced.

"What I'm hearing," said Seth. "It can't be real."

"It doesn't make sense," said Kendra. "It can't just be a coincidence."

"Two fairy gardens being attacked by demons so close together" asked Dale. "How does that even happen?"

"It had to have been those demons that attacked the Fairbanks' place!" said Seth. "I mean, obviously! After being scared away from one fairy garden, why wouldn't they go after another one?"

"With all due respect, Seth," said Warren. "You're forgetting that the Fairbanks live in Georgia, whist the Landrys' place is in Texas. They're four states apart. That's quite a distance for some demons to traverse in less than a day, especially after being weakened by Brook."

"Well, maybe they're fast demons?" said Seth suggestively.

"Look, I don't care if these were the same demons or not," said Ingrid. "Point is, another fairy garden just got attacked. What if this keeps on happening?"

"It's safe to say that the Landrys' place is still standing, as Opal was there to protect it," said Grandpa. "However, this one-off incident has now officially escalated into a repeated problem. I'm going to get in touch with Trask right now and see if we can work out some sort of solution to these attacks, as the occurrence of more of them wouldn't surprise me at this point."

"What do you suppose is causing all of these sudden attacks to happen?" asked Grandma.

Grandpa shook his head. "Beats me. You'd think with the Demon Domain gone, the last thing that the rogue demons throughout our world would want to do would be to draw attention to themselves. If you'll excuse me, I need to get in touch with Trask."

With that said, Grandpa placed his napkin down on the table, got up from his chair and made his way out of the dining room, heading in the direction of his study.

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"I don't know," replied Grandma. "But I'm sure that Trask and your grandfather are going to try and work something out. Try to just eat the rest of your dinner."

"I'm sorry," said Bracken, as he pushed his plate full of food away from himself. "I've lost my appetite. Those poor fairies."

"We have to go down there," said Kendra. "We need to go down to the Landrys' and make sure they're okay as well."

"We understand completely," said Mr. Sorenson. "Unless Grandpa can convince you _not_ to go, you should head down there right after dinner."

For the next few minutes, the family slowly picked away at their dinner. Although he was hungry, Seth ate his diced herb-roasted potatoes one morsel at a time. While they normally tasted very savory, after hearing the news about the attack at the Landrys', the potatoes seemingly lost all of their flavor.

Several minutes later, Grandpa returned to the dining room.

"I spoke to Trask, then spoke to Glenn again. We've decided that the best course of action would be to head to down the Landrys' and offer them your aid."

"What about the demons?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

Seth held up his hands. "Oh no! We are _not_ going on another wild demon chase!"

"My sentiments exactly," said Grandpa. "I propose that you folks finish your dinner, then make your way down to the Landrys' place. Don't waste more time going after these demons. Just do what you can to comfort the Landrys and the fairies."

"What if this keeps happening?" asked Ingrid. "Even if we head down to the Landrys', more demons could just keep popping up all over the place and going after other targets."

"That's exactly what Trask and I are taking care of," said Grandpa. "We're looking into ways to increase the protection around fairies, and in turn, will pass that information on to other fairy collectors. After all, not all fairy gardens are fortunate enough to even have a fairy angel protecting them."

"Why not?" asked Ingrid.

"Not enough fairy angels."

"It doesn't feel like there's too much we can do at this point to help the Landrys," said Warren. "But we'll do whatever we can to help. Come on, let's go get ready to head down to their place and help them out."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all got up from the table and washed up. Once they had gathered up their belongings, the group of five then met up in the living room.

"Okay," said Warren. "If everybody's ready, we'll travel down to the Landrys' right away."

The others nodded, as Warren wound up the Translocator and held it out in front of himself. As soon as the others all placed their hands onto the artifact, Warren twisted it again. In an instant, the group was suddenly transported away from the house at Fablehaven.

A moment later, the group found themselves standing on the front porch of a large mansion. The atmosphere around them had changed drastically. It was significantly warmer in this new location than it was back at Fablehaven, or even in Georgia.

Gazing at their surroundings, Kendra and Seth recognized it as being the home of Glenn and Luke Landry. They were quick to observe the lawn that stood before them. Unlike the property at the Fairbanks', the Landry's estate appeared to be in proper order. The lawn, trees, hedges... everything seemed to be fine. It seemed as though there hadn't been any indication that any demons had even been here.

"Guess they didn't wreck this place too bad," said Seth. "We're at the right location, aren't we?"

"This is the place," said Warren, as he moved his hand towards the doorbell. "Course, this is a large property. Perhaps the demons never got around to this end."

Warren then rung the doorbell, which was followed by a brief chorus of chiming bells echoing from inside the house. Although very brief, the chimes sounded as though they might've belonged in a cathedral, rather than in somebody's home.

About fifteen seconds later, the front doors were opened up by a man dressed in a tuxedo. Neither Kendra nor Seth recognized the man, but it was safe for them to assume that he was presumably some sort of butler or servant who worked for the Landrys.

"You must be the Knights of the Dawn," said the man, as he eyed each member of the group. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"How bad is it?" asked Bracken.

The man frowned. "I don't want to say. Masters Glenn is in the backyard at the fairy garden. I'll show you to him."

The man led the Knights of the Dawn into the mansion. While not on the same level as the Fairbanks' castle in terms of scope, the front hall of the mansion was still fairly vast and spacious. After passing down a well-furnished, carpeted hallway, they passed through a fairly large kitchen. At the far end of the kitchen was a set of glass double doors leading out into the backyard.

As the man led the group along the back patio, Kendra and Seth could now see the remnants of the demons that had been here prior. Similar to what they had seen at the Fairbanks' place, the backyard looked as though a stampede of animals had stormed through it. Pieces of the lawn had been torn up, and numerous trees, bushes and hedges were in shambles.

"Right this way," said the man, as he led the group along the lawn and over to a large, circular hedge that stood in the very center of the yard. Roughly the size of a cabin, the hedge was about ten feet high, and appeared to be covered by a dome-shaped, mesh roof.

At the front of the hedge was a screen door, which the man opened up and directed the group into. As Kendra and Seth entered the screen door, they found themselves in a secluded garden. While the garden appeared to have normally been filled with flowers, a small pond, birdbaths, rocks and benches, much of it was currently in ruins. A hole had been ripped through one of the hedges at the back end, exposing the garden to the rest of the backyard. The area of the garden nearest the wall was also in ruins, as all of the decor had seemingly been ripped apart.

Sitting on a bench opposite the torn-out hedge were both Glenn Landry himself and Opal. Glenn currently had his hand on Opal's arm when the two of them glanced up to see the group entering the garden.

"Thank goodness you've come," said Glenn.

"Opal," said Bracken, as he walked up to the purple fairy angel and the tycoon. "Mr. Landry. Are you folks okay?"

"Bracken," said Opal wearily, as she stood up and gave the unicorn a hug. "It was so frightening."

"What exactly happened?" asked Kendra.

"Us fairies were just minding our own business here in the garden. When out of nowhere, about six demons just tore a hole through the hedge, their mere presence petrifying every small fairy here through sheer fear! I wasted no time in blasting the demons with light energy, and they stormed off the property like greased lightning."

"That sounds a lot like what went on at the Fairbanks," said Warren.

"I heard about that," said Glenn. "That's insane."

"Opal, are you okay?" asked Bracken. "Had it not been for you, every fairy that's here would be dead right now."

"We survived," said Opal. "But one of the demons smashed the fairy shrine before I could stop them."

"That's not the worst of it," said Glenn. "Our dog Crusher, who had been in the yard during the attack, got slammed hard by one of the demons, breaking her leg."

"Oh no," said Seth, thinking of the Doberman Pinscher who had discovered him and his allies the first time they paid a visit to the Landrys' home. "Poor dog. Where is she?"

"Inside right now with Luke. A vet is on her way over right now to check on her."

"We can help Crusher, can't we?" asked Ingrid.

Warren nodded. "May we see Crusher? That is, if it's okay with you, Opal."

"You guys go on ahead," said Bracken. "I'm going to stay here with Opal and do what I can to comfort her."

Glenn showed Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Warren back into the house. They passed through the kitchen, went down the hallway, then entered a small room off to the side. Sitting on a large pet bed in the center of the room, was Crusher, the Landrys' Doberman Pinscher guard dog. Kneeling next to the canine was Luke Landry, Glenn's son.

"Lucas," said Glenn. "The Knights of the Dawn are here."

"Hey guys," said Luke, whose voice did not sound very enthusiastic.

"Crusher," said Seth. "Is she... all right?"

The dog let out a whimper as Luke pointed at her left front leg.

"You can't see it," said Luke, "but Crusher can't even walk."

"I think we might be able to help her," said Warren. "May I come forward?"

"If you can help," said Glenn. "I must warn you that Crusher is not herself after being attacked. She's very on edge."

"I understand," said Warren, as he walked towards where Crusher and Luke were.

Warren stopped about two feet away from where Crusher was, then kneeled down in front of her. Crusher growled at Warren, then let out several barks.

"Easy, girl," said Warren. "I've got something that'll make you feel better."

Warren stuck a hand into his bag and pulled from it the Sands of Sanctity.

"Is that a cat?" asked Luke, eyeing the cat-shaped artifact.

"Warren laughed. "Yeah, I suppose it _is_ a little ironic."

Warren attempted to move the Sands of Sanctity closer towards Crusher, only for the dog to bark at him again.

"She needs to stay still," said Warren. "Really wish she was wearing one of those dog cone things right about now."

Warren tried to approach Crusher a second time with the Sands of Sanctity in his hand. Crusher snapped at Warren's hand again, which he managed to pull away just in time.

"This isn't working!" moaned Ingrid. "That dog just isn't cooperating with Warren!"

Warren glanced at Crusher, then at the Sands of Sanctity in his hand, "You know, I think I might be more of a cat person, honesty."

"I've got an idea," said Kendra, as a thought entered her head. "Why not just let Luke use the Sands of Sanctity? Crusher's a lot more familiar with him."

Warren took in a deep breath. "Might as well give it a try."

Warren passed the Sands of Sanctity over to Luke.

"How does this thing even work?" asked Luke.

"It's easy," said Warren. "This thing has magical healing sands within it. See that spout on the tail? Just pour it onto anything that's been hurt or wounded and it'll be healed instantly."

"Okay," said Luke. "I'll try."

Luke held the Sands of Sanctity up towards Crusher's leg. The dog let out a deep growl, but did not attempt to snap at him. Luke then tilted the Sands of Sanctity, causing a small stream of sand to pour out of the artifact's spout and onto Crusher's leg.

Crusher let out a loud howl once some of the mystical sand fell onto her leg, prompting Luke and Warren both to back away.

"Crusher?" asked Glenn, who had a startled expression etched onto his face.

Crushed pressed her front paws down against the bed, then propped herself up onto four paws. She let out several high-pitched barks, and proceeded to lick Luke's hands, followed by Warren's.

"I don't believe it," said Glenn. "That cat teapot thing just healed Crusher? Just like that?"

"Yup," said Seth. "It's incredible, isn't it?"

"I'll say. Where can I get one of those things?"

"You don't want to know," said Warren, as hes scratched one of Crusher's ears.

"The Sands of Sanctity," said Glenn. "Can it fix other things? Like my yard?"

Warren shook his head. "No dice. The Sands of Sanctity heals all wounds. But it only works on living creatures, I'm afraid."

"What about the vet?" asked Luke. "Isn't she still coming?"

"You're right," said Glenn. "I can't tell her the truth about what happened. I'll just let her examine Crusher and make up some excuse about how I _thought_ she hurt herself. I'll still pay her for the call, though."

"Come on," said Kendra. "Let's go check on Bracken and the fairies again."

Glenn and Luke then led the Knights of the Dawn back into the yard and into the fairy garden. Bracken and Opal were still sitting on a bench, surrounded by dozens of smaller fairies.

"Bracken," said Kendra. "Did you manage to restore Opal?"

Bracken shook his head. "I can't right now. I already loaned much of my power to Brook. On top of that, I spent most of today exerting my power trying to locate those demons when we were back in Georgia."

"Can I help?"

Opal shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks, Kendra. I'll send for support from the Fairy Kingdom. They should be able to restore my strength and fix the yard."

"How's the dog?" asked Bracken.

"We actually managed to heal her using the Sands of Sanctity," said Warren.

"You did?" exclaimed Opal. "That's great!"

"What about us?" asked Luke. "What are we going to do if those demons ever come back?"

"Don't you worry," said Bracken. "Stan Sorenson is looking into a solution so that this sort of thing doesn't ever happen again, be it here or another fairy garden."

"But what about the demons that _did_ attack this place?" asked Glenn.

"It's not worth the trouble trying to track them down," said Seth. "We wasted pretty much a whole day just trying to find the ones that messed with the Fairbanks, but to no avail."

"Opal," said Bracken, "are you sure that you'll be all right?"

"I think so," replied the fairy angel. "Hopefully, there won't be another demon attack before we're ready to deal with it."

An idea then popped up in Seth's head. "I almost forgot! Ingrid, can I have a kiss?"

"A kiss?" asked Ingrid, giving Seth a funny look. "Now?"

"Uh, yeah. Kiss me like you mean it."

Ingrid nodded. "Oh, I get it. You want a _kiss_ , do you?"

Ingrid suddenly advanced towards Seth and pressed her lips up against his. The feeling of Ingrid's moist lips up against Seth's own was soon overwhelmed by a glowing feeling spreading through his body. A moment later, Seth's wings came bursting out through his shoulder blades, ripping through his shirt in the process.

"Whoa," said Luke, staring at Seth in awe.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Glenn

"More like what the heaven," said Warren.

"I-I-I know Seth is angelkind now. But I'd never seen it with my own eyes."

"There's more to it than wings," said Seth. "Watch."

Seth extended his wings and began to focus. Everyone watched as his wings emitted a brilliant, nearly blinding glow. Once the glow faded, one thing that became apparent was that the fairy garden had now been completely restored. Everything within it that had been damaged was now intact once again. Everything that was, except for the fairy shrine, which was still a mess of rubble.

"Oh, Seth!" exclaimed Opal. "Thank you!"

"I wasn't able to fix the shrine at the Fairbanks either," said Seth. "It's too complicated. But maybe I can lend you some power, Opal."

Seth closed his eyes and again tried to exert more energy from his wings. However, instead of radiating energy, Seth felt his wings retracting back into his body.

"Seth, what're you doing?" asked Kendra.

"I don't know," replied Seth. "I tried using my power again, but my wings... they just... went away!"

"Are you okay, Seth?" asked Glenn.

"I think so. We're still really unfamiliar with my angelkind abilities, as well as their limitations."

"Should I try kissing you again, Seth?" asked Ingrid.

"Maybe not," said Seth. "When my wings went away, it felt like all my strength was drained out of me."

"You know what," said Warren. "We've all had a very long day. Maybe we should head back, now."

"I understand," said Mr. Landry. "Thank you so much for your help."

Warren removed the Translocator from his bag and held it out for the others to touch.

"Remember," said Bracken. "Let us know if you need anything else."

"Seth, why did you lose your wings so abruptly?" asked Ingrid.

Seth shook his head as he reached for the Translocator with his hand. "I don't know, Ingrid. I honestly don't know."


	6. Planning Ahead

**Chapter 6: Planning Ahead**

Kendra and Seth both opened their eyes, and saw that they were now standing in the living room back at Fablehaven, along with Warren, Ingrid and Bracken.

"We're back," announced Bracken, as he and the others all removed their hands from the Translocator, which Warren slipped back into his bag.

A moment later, the adults that had been at home all made their way into the living room, approaching from various sections of the house.

"How is everything?" asked Grandpa. "Were you able to help the Landrys and the fairies?"

"We did," replied Warren.

"And were they all okay?" asked Grandma.

"They are now," said Seth.

"Poor Opal, though," said Bracken. "After all that I'd been through today, I didn't have the strength left in me to help restore her energy. Thank goodness she and the other fairies are all okay."

"Not only that," said Kendra, "but the demons that attacked the place _did_ manage to hurt Crusher, the Landrys' dog."

Grandpa shook his head. "I do _not_ like where this is going."

"But we were able to heal her using the Sands of Sanctity," said Ingrid. "She's all good now."

"That's not the point. This is the second demon attack on a fairy shrine _today_! We can't just let this keep on happening. The Sands of Sanctity won't always be an option for everybody."

"So what exactly are we supposed to even do about this?" asked Seth. "It's beyond our control! At least we're doing everything we can to help, though."

Grandpa nodded. "I understand where you're coming from. But I think we can all agree that we'd rather this sort of thing never happens again. As good as your efforts have been, this whole situation would be best if it could be prevented completely. You say that the Landrys' dog got injured, yes?"

"Yeah," said Ingrid. "She hurt her leg."

"She's lucky to still be alive! The demons were obviously more interested in the fairies, so their only concern would've been in getting that dog that was barking at them out of their way. And what if that had been a human? They could've been killed!

"You have any _better_ ideas, Stan?" asked Warren. "We're open to suggestions."

"I've spoken to Trask. "He's busy trying to spread the word to other fairy collectors and aficionados, so that they can implement better protection for their fairies. However, not everyone can be reached that easily. It's probably going to take a few days before the message reaches everyone."

"A few days?" asked Ingrid. "What are we supposed to do until then?"

"It's hard to say. I thought that the first attack at the Fairbanks' would've just been a one-off fluke. But after the Landrys' place got raided, I knew that lightning had struck twice."

"It is quite a predicament," said Grandma. "We don't know how many demons are even running around out there, where they are, or when they'll strike next. Until we have the situation under control, the best course of action would be to stay on our toes, in case another incident comes up."

"This whole thing just seems kind of bizarre," said Mr. Sorenson. "I mean, demons just popping up at two different fairy shrines? Why is this even happening?"

"To be quite honest, until we're certain of the absolute truth, we don't have any way of knowing for sure," replied Grandpa. "However, I do feel that we should try to theorize any possibilities that we can think of. Now, any ideas as to why these demons were attacking the fairies shrines in the first place?"

"That's pretty obvious," replied Seth. "Demons hate fairies and all creatures of light. Why _wouldn't_ they attack them?"

"That's not what I'm getting at. I mean, what was the motivation to make these demons _want_ to attack two separate shrines on the same day? It's too unusual for this to just be a coincidence."

"Normally, I'd want to say Murdred might've been responsible for this," said Ingrid. "But, Kendra and Seth defeated him just the other week!"

"Not just him," said Seth. "But the whole Demon Domain... it imploded!"

"I have to wonder," said Kendra. "We know how Murdred became the ruler of the Demon Domain in the first place, right?"

"Well, yeah," said Bracken. "He became ruler after Gorgrog left the Demon Domain and was imprisoned in Zzyzx."

"But Gorgrog had Murdred as his disciple," said Seth. "Murdred wanted a disciple, but he ultimately never succeeded in finding one before his demise."

"So... if Murdred had no disciple, or even any next of kin..." said Warren. "Who exactly would become the demon leader?"

"Who knows?" replied Grandma. "They may not even have a proper leader at this point, unless one demon were to rise up and seize the position."

"But there had to be something to motivate the demons into attacking those fairy shrines," said Bracken. "Since they weren't exactly down the street from each other, clearly someone or something compelled them into going after the fairy gardens today."

"I have a question," said Ingrid. "If these fairy gardens have distractor spells, how exactly are demons finding their way into them?"

"Well, I mentioned this before," said Grandpa, "but the distractor spells that protects these fairy gardens are not exceptionally powerful. These fairy gardens are not huge preserves that can contain such powerful magic."

"So what good is the protection they have if it's not even enough to stop a couple of demons?" asked Seth.

"You know how a distractor spell works, right?" asked Dale. "If you don't fully resist it in some way, it fools your mind into thinking that you have somewhere else you need to be. However, with enough persistence and determination, overcoming the distractor spell, while by no means an easy feat, is not an impossibility."

"In other words, those demons that attacked the fairy gardens somehow learned of their existences, then built up the gumption to go after them, managing to bypass the distractor spells in the the process?" asked Kendra.

"It would appear that way," said Grandpa. "With no way to predict if, where or when any demons will strike next, the best choice of action would be to reinforce the fairy gardens with stronger protective spells. This whole process is going to take several days, though, but it's something."

"One question," said Seth. "How do we know for sure that the demons that attacked the Landrys' garden are different from the group that attacked the Fairbanks?"

"Because the distance between the two locations is fairly great," said Warren. "Also, they would've been weakened after Brook's attack. Look, we already talked about this, remember?"

"Who's to say that the demons didn't have help? Perhaps someone sent them to the Fairbanks on purpose. Then, after the demons got kicked out of the place, they got taken to the Landrys' to try wreaking havoc on their garden?"

Grandpa clasped his hands together. "That _is_ a good theory, Seth. I never actually considered such a possibility. It _would_ offer a few explanations. However, while it is a good thing to consider, we must not jump to any solid conclusions. We still don't have enough evidence. Also, it doesn't offer us any real solution to the problem at hand."

"Is there anything else we can do to help?" asked Kendra.

"As it stands right now? Not exactly. We still need to be on duty in case another crisis arises. But as far as traveling to other fairy shrines and setting up protective measures, then no. Leave that to the other Knights of the Dawn and Agad. They're trying to get things under control. They should be fine for now, but if they need our help, they'll let us know. Any other questions?"

"Wait a minute," said Ingrid. "Our favors! The Fairy Queen promised Seth, Kendra, Warren and myself each a favor! If we really wanted to, we could ask her to help us find out what's behind all of this..."

Bracken shook his head. "Ingrid. Your heart is in the right place. But the lives of many fairies are obviously at risk. My mother is already doing what she can to help. Believe me, if she had the power to keep these demons under control, she would've dealt with them already. Requesting her help for that what she is already unable to procure would be futile."

"It was a good idea," said Grandma. "And it was very generous of you to consider using up your favor to help the fairies. But the favor should be for something that _you_ want."

"The fairies are my friends," said Ingrid. "They're all of our friends. Some are even my family. If things have gotten this bad, I'd give anything to help them."

"Any other ideas?" asked Warren. "Or questions at least?

"I've got one," said Seth. "You know how I became an angel at the Fairbanks' to help restore their fairy garden?"

"Yes," replied Grandpa. "Go on."

"Well, when I did it at the Fairbanks, I had little trouble with triggering the transformation. I just focused on a bit, and it happened. I managed to restore most of the garden, even though fixing the fairy shrine was out of the question. _However_ , becoming an angel at the Landrys' was a lot harder. I had to..."

"Had to what?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"I had some help from Ingrid."

"What kind of help?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"You know... help."

As he spoke, Seth stared at Ingrid. She looked as though she was going to blush.

"Ingrid, how did you help?" asked Grandma.

Ingrid winced, unable to utter a single word.

"Ingrid kinda kissed Seth," said Kendra.

"KEN-DRA!" snapped Seth.

"Seth, we know about the time Ingrid kissed you and you became an angel, then flew up with her onto the roof," said Grandpa.

"Yeah, but that was different! I didn't know that would happen."

"You know better now, don't you?" asked Warren, flashing a proud grin at Seth.

"Oh, shut up!" blurted Seth. "Yes! Ingrid caused me to become an angel by kissing me! But come on! I'm sure everyone else here would do it too if it worked for them!"

Grandpa held up his hand, then proceeded to clear his throat very loudly, as though he had done it deliberately.

"Let's not belittle Seth on the... _method_ that he used to achieve his angel form," Grandpa said said, as he turned his head back towards Seth. "Seth, what you were saying was that you were experiencing difficulties in becoming an angel while you were at the Landrys' place, yes?"

"Yeah," replied Seth. "Even though I was able to do it more easily when we were at the Fairbanks. And not only that, but I lost my wings much more suddenly too. But why?"

"You _did_ have a long day," said Warren. "We all did. Maybe everything you went through was just too taxing on you."

"But I felt fine physically! Even when my wings went away!"

"Seth," said Bracken, as he shook his head. "I understand what you're getting at. But, as we're all well aware, we know very little about how your angelkind powers and abilities work. Much of what we do know about it is based on either theory, or are just educated guesses. But ultimately, there's much about it that we simply do not understand. Even Hope doesn't quite understand what's going on."

"Maybe you should've just let Ingrid kiss you again," said Kendra, speaking with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" asked Ingrid.

"Okay," said Grandpa. "Let's not dwell on this any further, shall we? This whole angel thing is just something we don't fully comprehend. Seth, by all means mention this to Hope when you see her tomorrow. She may not be able to provide an answer, but she should most certainly know."

"Tomorrow," said Seth. "Unless of course another fairy garden gets attacked."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Precautions are already being taken to better protect the fairy gardens that are out there. Now that we know what we're in for, we'll be ready for any more potential demon attacks."

"But that worries me," said Kendra. "I mean, what if, for some reason, the protective spells that are implemented on the fairy gardens aren't powerful enough to keep the demons away?"

"I don't know," replied Grandpa. "However, based on what Brook and Opal have told us, both groups of demons only consisted of a few members."

"What's to stop the groups from increasing in size, though? Say a couple of demons approach a fairy shrine, only they lack the power to bypass the barrier. So, couldn't they hypothetically seek out more allies, return to the shrine, and then overwhelm the power of the barrier?"

"It's true that the fairy gardens are unable to have protective barriers of the same caliber of the ones that govern preserves. But either way, it would take a great amount of dark energy to overwhelm the new barriers that Trask intends to have set up. I think if we can just get all of the fairy gardens under more reliable security, these demon attacks will be a thing of the past."

"I sure hope so," said Kendra.

"What about all these demons that are just running around?" asked Seth. "Even if we are able to prevent them from attacking more fairy gardens, they're still going to be causing havoc somewhere."

"Technically, yes," said Grandpa. "But based on what the Fairbanks told me, the damage that the demons caused didn't really extend beyond their property. It was only when the demons got close that they started to tear the place apart."

"That may have been because they were in close proximity to the fairies," said Bracken. The exposure to their energies probably enraged them."

"Yeah, but the demons themselves are still out there.," said Seth.

"That may be," said Grandma. "But there's a good chance that the demons that attacked are simply rogue demons."

"Rogue demons?" asked Ingrid.

"They're nothing new," replied Grandpa. "As you all know, a good majority of magical creatures have been relegated to preserves like this one. "However, there are still plenty of wild, or _rogue_ magical creatures out there. And, not surprisingly, creatures of darkness tend to be harder to bring onto these preserves."

"What normally happens with these rogue creatures?" asked Seth.

"Usually, very little. Even though these are demons we're talking about, they don't normally just go around seeking out trouble like this. They keep to themselves, and generally don't cause too much trouble. They're usually only a threat if provoked. But what happened today just strikes me as very odd. Especially if there actually were multiple parties involved."

"You know what," said Mrs. Sorenson. "I think you've all had a long day. Why don't we all just take it easy for the rest of the evening? Forget about all of these demon shenanigans and try not to stress yourselves out too much."

"How can I?" asked Seth. "We missed today's lesson. Now those chapters that I read last night won't be as fresh in my memory tomorrow as they would've been this morning! I'm gonna have to reread that stupid book!"

"Seth," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You know what? Tomorrow is Friday. Now, I know that you've had a bit of trouble with your schoolwork. And, I realize that these are extenuating circumstances. Also, I'm your mother and I love you. So, I'm giving you until Monday to reread those chapters, if that's what it takes. Kendra, Ingrid. You too."

"Really?" asked Seth, as he smiled. "Thanks, mom! I've never had a teacher cut me so much slack before. All my previous teachers would've threatened me with detention! Of course, if you _really_ loved me, you wouldn't make me read such a boring book?"

"Seth, you can't always read comic books like Avengers and X-Men. Promenade Issues isn't fantasy. It's very down to Earth and you can really relate to the characters, who deal with very realistic problems. Not over-the-top super villains "

"Mom, in case you forgot, I practically _do_ deal with over-the-top super villains."

"He's got a point, Marla," said Warren, smiling in Seth's direction.

"Still," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Adventuring is all well and good. But it's good to immerse yourself in the down-to-Earth conflicts that are present in Promenade Issues. Seth, you're my son. I know what your interests are. I'm not making you read Promenade Issues to be a jerk. I'm doing it because I want you to learn, and be better prepared for the real world. Even if it's not easy."

"Okay," said Seth. "I get it. Thank you for the extension, Mom."

"Just relax, Seth. I know. let's all have some ice cream."

"I'm sorry, said Grandma, shaking her head. "But we don't have any ice cream left. I'll have to pick some up next time I go shopping."

"Aww!" moaned Seth. "That blows!"

"I have a better idea," said Bracken.

Bracken snapped his fingers. Suddenly, there was a brief flash of light. When it faded, Seth saw that he was now holding an ice cream cone in his hand. In fact, everyone in the room was holding a waffle cone containing a fresh scoop of vanilla ice cream.

"Ice cream?" asked Ingrid. "Sweet!"

Everyone in the room proceeded to thank Bracken in unison.

"Bracken, this is very thoughtful and all," said Kendra. "But your energy..."

"It's nothing," said Bracken. "Anything for my family-to-be."

Kendra blushed. Bracken's comment had shocked her, but in a way that made her feel very proud.

"Bracken, this is great and all," said Seth. "But my favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip."

Bracken nodded, then snapped his fingers. Right before Seth's eyes, the scoop of ice cream that was in Seth's cone suddenly changed color from white to green. Additionally, small pieces of chocolate had manifested within the altered ice cream. Before Seth could respond, Bracken snapped his fingers again, causing a second scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream to appear on top of the first one.

"Bracken..." said Seth. "I freakin' love you."


	7. The Lost Ones

**Chapter 7: The Lost Ones**

The remainder of the evening at Fablehaven went by rather smoothly, in contrast to the events that had unfolded at earlier points throughout the day. As far as both Kendra and Seth were concerned, they had endured enough tension for one day.

With any luck, the recent efforts initiated by Trask would be enough to curb the sudden outbreak of demon attacks upon fairy gardens. Of course, there was still the pressing matter of the rogue demons which were still at large. However, once the protective measures that were being implemented at the fairy gardens were all in place, t hen at last would the fairies that resided at all of them be safe.

Not long after the sun had set entirely, leaving the sky a luminescent shade of navy blue, the family retired upstairs to their bedrooms. Feeling exhausted after their latest excursion, Kendra and Seth got ready for bed and plopped down onto their mattresses. Within mere minutes, the siblings had fallen fast asleep.

The following morning, Kendra and Seth both got up. After getting dressed and freshening up, they made their way downstairs and into the dining room, where they joined the rest of their family for breakfast.

"Good morning everybody," said Kendra, who was feeling refreshed and alert, now that she had enjoyed a good night's sleep.

"Good morning, Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, smiling in her direction.

"I'm making French Toast," said Grandma Sorenson, her voice flowing into the dining room via the kitchen.

"Magnifique," said Warren, nodding in approval.

"What's on for today?" asked Ingrid.

"Well, I spoke to Trask right when I got up this morning," said Grandpa. "He said that he's got everything under control. That the fairy shrines are in good hands, and that we really have no need to worry."

"In other words, today's a school day," said Seth.

Mrs. Sorenson nodded. "It is. Now, as we discussed, your reading assignment isn't due until Monday. But your other homework is due at nine AM sharp.

"Homework?" snorted Warren. "Marla, why do you have to _torment_ these poor kids? I _never_ give out homework."

"What kind of homework can you assign them, anyway? Have them write an essay on how much they enjoy honing their sword training?"

"Don't give him any ideas!" muttered Ingrid.

Warren laughed. "I dunno. It sounds tempting..."

"Warren, when can I start training with you?" asked Seth.

"You'll need to speak with Hope about that," said Grandma, as she entered the dining room carrying a plate full of French toast slices. "If she has any concerns about this conflicting with her training sessions, she can always speak to one of us."

At that moment, Grandpa's phone started ringing. He proceeded to pull the device out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.

"Who is it?" asked Grandma.

"It's Maddox..." said Grandpa in confused tone of voice.

"Maddox?" asked Ingrid. "The fairy trader?"

"He doesn't have his own shrine, does he?" asked Seth.

Grandpa shook his head. "I don't know what this is about. I'd better answer it."

Grandpa then answered the phone and placed it up to his head. "Hello? Maddox? It's Stan."

There was a long pause. Everyone else at the table stared at Grandpa in anticipation. After a few seconds, Grandpa's jaw drooped down, as a shocked look took dominance of his face.

"Oh my god. It can't be. I... I'm so sorry.. I never even considered... Because there's no shrine at your place... I know... But Trask and I..."

"Grandpa..." said Kendra, now worried that something bad had happened. "Is everything okay?"

Grandpa shushed Kendra and shook his head, then directed his attention back towards his phone. "I'm sorry about all this. It's just that we've had our hands full from all these other attacks. Those poor fairies. I'll have my Knights head down to your place ASAP. I'll get back to you. Goodbye."

"I don't like what I'm hearing," said Warren, as Grandpa hung up his phone.

Grandpa took in deep breath, then closed his eyes for a moment.

"Dad, what is it?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

Grandpa opened his eyes, then placed a hand upon his forehead. "Maddox Fisk. Demons got to his fairy quarters."

"Fairy quarters?" asked Seth. "What's that?"

"It's a specially-controlled habitat Maddox had for the fairies he currently owned in his backyard. Apparently, Maddox had been out travelling for the past few days, and only got home a few hours ago. However, in his absence, demons got to his place and raided the yard."

"What happened to the fairies?" asked Kendra.

Grandpa sighed. "With no fairy angel there to protect them... they were all mauled to death."

The shock of hearing what Grandpa had to say had struck Kendra and Seth's hearts like lightning. They were speechless.

"No..." said Warren, sounding very weary.

"That's horrible," said Ingrid. "But... why would anyone even keep fairies around in an unprotected place like that to begin with?"

"Maddox is a fairy trader," replied Grandpa. "As such, he doesn't really have a dedicated collection of fairies to call his own. Rather, he goes around the world, captures stray fairies, and stores them in a special, controlled environment in his backyard until they're ready to be traded or sold to prospective buyers, such as myself."

"Did Maddox's place even _have_ protection?" asked Seth.

"Yes. But not the greatest. The fairy shrines at the Fairbanks' and the Landrys' had better safeguards, and the demons still got through. Maddox's home didn't stand a chance."

"No wonder," said Kendra. "None of these homes are dedicated preserves in secluded areas. The distractor spells that protect them aren't all that powerful."

"And Maddox lives in a normal, two-story house," said Grandpa. "Not a sprawling estate. He could never get away with a powerful distractor spell surrounding his house. Still, we never thought that it would come to... _this_."

"How many fairies were there?" asked Ingrid.

"About twenty or so. Maddox never has a large number at any given time, which at least makes this seem like less of a tragedy than it could've been. Still, it's quite disconcerting."

"Bracken," said Kendra. "He needs to know."

Kendra got up from her seat and dashed out of the dining room. She passed through then kitchen and went outside onto the back patio.

Sitting on the steps at the end of the patio was Bracken. He appeared to be holding a pie tin full of milk in his hands, which several fairies were sipping out of.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra, as she ran towards the end of the patio.

"Hey, Kendra!" said Bracken pleasantly, as he turned his head back to look at her as she approached him.

"Bracken, it's awful," said Kendra, as she came up to Bracken and stopped right where he was sitting.

"Kendra. What is it?"

Kendra froze. How exactly was she supposed to tell the prince of fairies himself that an entire group of his own kind had been killed?

"Bracken..." said Kendra, unable to finish what she was about to tell him.

"Kendra, are you okay?" asked Bracken, as he set the pie tin down on the patio, then stood up in front of Kendra.

"I don't want to say it."

"Kendra. I'm your fiance, am I not? I'm always here for you. You can tell me anything. You know that."

"I know. But this is very upsetting. Especially for you."

"Kendra," said Bracken, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever this is... Please tell me,"

Kendra sighed. "Demons attacked the fairies that were at Maddox's place. There were no survivors. I'm sorry."

There was a moment of silence. Kendra, Bracken, and the surrounding fairies all remained completely still.

"It's not your fault," said Bracken, as he set down the tin, then placed his arms around Kendra, embracing her in a hug.

"You're not upset?"

Bracken shook his head. "I'm very upset," he said, speaking in a calm voice. "But getting mad about it won't help. How did this happen?"

"Fairies were killed?" asked one of the small fairies that had been drinking milk from the pie tin.

"Let's go inside," said Kendra. "Grandpa's the one who spoke to Maddox. He can probably explain it to you better than I can."

Bracken then released his arms from Kendra and told hold of her hand. Together, they walked back along the patio towards the door to the kitchen. As they made their way into the house, the rest of the family had now gathered around in the kitchen, no doubt waiting for Kendra and Bracken to return.

"Bracken..." said Grandpa.

"Kendra told me," said Bracken, releasing Kendra's hand from his own. "This is awful."

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"If the fairies really are dead, there's literally nothing we can do to help them at this point."

"What about Maddox's place?" asked Seth. "And the demons? They ought to pay for all this!"

"This was an oversight on my part," said Grandma. "Mine and Trask's. Neither of us even considered people with unofficial collections of fairies, such as fairy traders. We only took bona fide shrines into account when coming up with our game plan. And now, already, a disaster has struck."

"It's not your fault, Stan," said Grandma. "You already had your hands full trying to implement protective measures around all the other fairy shrines."

"And we're already thankful enough for that," said Bracken. "But this attack at Maddox's place. Even _I_ hadn't given it any prior thought."

"Is Maddox even okay?" asked Kendra. "I know that he's still alive, obviously. But how is he?"

"Maddox was not at home when his property was being attacked," said Grandpa. "He was returning home from his latest expedition, only to see that his backyard had been torn apart and that his fairy quarters had been completely destroyed. So, as horrific as this whole thing was, Maddox was unharmed. However, in addition to the loss of the fairies, there has still been substantial damage to Maddox's yard and the surrounding area."

"What can we do to help?" asked Ingrid.

"I would suggest that you folks travel to his place and doing whatever you can that would be of assistance. I realize that the fairies that were there are a lost cause, but any help that you could provide for Maddox would infinitely be better than no help at all."

"Those demons..." said Seth clenching his fingers together. "I _really_ want to get those demons who did this!"

"We all do," said Kendra. "All the demons that have been responsible for these attacks have done so unjustly. It's unfortunate that we've been unable to track any of them."

"No. I really mean it this time! Those demons that were at Maddox's just obliterated an entire colony of fairies, and got away with it to boot! Forget the demons that attacked the Fairbanks' and the Landrys'! These demons _really_ need to get what's coming to them."

"Seth, there's not a whole lot we can actually do about these demons, much like the ones behind the previous attacks," said Bracken.

"Yeah, but this time I really want to track down those demons and make them pay. The other demons were at least hindered and scared off by Brook and Opal. This group of demons... They were actually successful! They trashed the place, killed all the fairies and took off! They caused their destruction and got away completely scot free!"

"Seth," said Grandpa. "Please calm down. We know from experience that trying to track down the demons is essentially futile. After all, they're likely miles away from Maddox's place by now. Trying to find them at this point would be next to impossible."

"Still, isn't there _anything_ we can do about them?"

"The Chronometer!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Couldn't we use it to travel back to before the demons attacked? Then we could intercept them and prevent this whole ordeal from happening!"

"Which would cause a paradox," said Grandpa. "I'm sorry. It was a good idea in theory. But what's done is done. If you were to go back in time and stop the demons from attacking, then Maddox never would've called, leading to us not knowing about any of this in the first place."

"Look," said Warren. "This whole ordeal has been disheartening. But standing here and griping about it won't solve anything. We just need to move on."

"And that means traveling to Maddox's place and picking up any pieces that we can," said Kendra.

"Where does Maddox live, anyway?" asked Seth.

"In Minneapolis," replied Grandpa.

"I may not know where that is," said Bracken. "But I _would_ like to know the fastest way of getting there."

"I've never been to Minneapolis, personally," said Warren. "So we can't just travel there in a heartbeat with the Translocator. So, show of hands. Has anyone here been to Minneapolis?"

Nobody in the room raised their hand.

"Nobody's been to Minneapolis? If you haven't been there, St. Paul will do."

Grandpa shrugged. "Guess you'll just have settle with the closest possible place that one of us have actually been to. "Which would be... where?"

"Let's do this scientifically, shall we," said Warren, as he set his tablet down on the table. This little geography lesson ought to make up for today's missed class, right Marla?"

Mrs. Sorenson sighed, then rolled her eyes, as Warren pressed the screen of his tablet several times, until a map of the United States appeared, showing all the individual states.

"Anyone been to Minnesota at all?" asked Warren. Nobody replied.

"You've been around quite a lot, haven't you, Warren?" asked Seth.

"Sure have. But admittedly, never to that neck of the woods."

Warren pored over the map. "Let's see. Which states border Minnesota? I've never been to Iowa or Wisconsin. Or the Dakotas, North or South."

Minnesota borders part of Canada," said Kendra.

"Only the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba," said Warren. "I've never been to Manitoba. Now, I have been to Ontario, but only the southern part."

"Hold on!" said Seth. "We've actually been to Ontario before. "Remember? We stopped in Toronto for lunch on our way to Wyrmroost that one time."

"Which is in the southern part of Ontario," noted Warren.

Kendra studied the map for a moment. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Of course! It had been so obvious!

"We've actually been pretty close to Minnesota before!" stated Kendra. "Remember? The Floodmaze!"

"Of course," said Warren, as he clasped his hands together. "That was in Lake Superior!"

"And Minnesota borders Lake Superior," said Kendra. "I only realized that when I saw the Great Lakes on the map."

"Still a fair distance away from the Floodmaze. But, Minneapolis does seem a bit closer to it than Chicago, which I was considering. Good idea thinking outside the box. Or at least, off the mainland."

"The Floodmaze?" asked Ingrid. "You mean... that underwater vault where you guys found the Sapphazure?"

"That's the one," said Bracken.

"Course, back then, we thought it was the Necromaster. Remember?"

"You guys said that the vault was in the middle of the lake somewhere," said Seth. "How exactly are you going to pinpoint the location?"

"The same way did it last time," replied Warren. "We marked the spot by setting a buoy in the water. Mind you, that _was_ a couple of months ago. No idea if it's still floating around anymore."

"We never did remove the buoy after our business in the Floodmaze," said Bracken. "And that whole area is, and still should be protected by a distractor spell. If anything, I'd wager that it's still floating around in the water, directly above the entrance to the Floodmaze where we left it."

"Then it's settled," said Warren. "We can travel back to the buoy using the Translocator. And from there, continued onward to Minneapolis."

"Sounds good," said Grandpa. "I'll let Maddox know that you guys will be on your way."

"Come on," said Kendra. "We have to go tell the dragons about this."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all got up and left the living room, then made their way back outside into the backyard. They advanced towards the dragons' cave at the edge of the yard, where a court of fairies had gathered.

"Bracken..." said Raxtus faintly, as he and the other dragons all emerged from the entrance to the cave. "Kendra... All of you..."

"The fairies told us about what happened at Maddox's place," said Geminus. "It's just... awful."

"Lousy demons!" snorted Firesquall.

"If we'd been there..." said Skyfrost. "I'd have put 'em all on ice!"

"I'd cook their goose," said Firesquall. "Goose-es? Geese? Cook their geese? English is so confusing sometimes."

"Marla's lessons are paying off," said Warren. "But this is no time for compliments. We've got to travel to the Floodmaze."

"The Floodmaze?" asked Geminus. "Why that place?"

"It's close to Maddox's home in Minneapolis," said Kendra. "Which is where we actually want to go."

"We've flown over Minnesota on flights to and from Wyrmroost," said Raxtus. "But we've never actually stopped down there in our travels."

"That's okay," said Bracken. "Any help you can offer us would be hugely beneficial."

"So, you want us to fly you guys from the Floodmaze to Maddox's place?" asked Firesquall.

"Well, it sure beats swimming," said Warren.

"Can do," said Raxtus. "Of course we'd be more than willing to help."

"Those poor fairies," said Geminus. "I just wish there had been something we could've done to have prevented this."

"Even if we can't undo what's already happened, at least we'll be helping," said Ingrid.

"Even though the damage has been done at Maddox's, it's also the only time that the demons have gotten away," said Kendra. "But who knows. In the wake of all the destruction, we might even find a clue."


	8. The Tracker

**Chapter 8: The Tracker**

Within a matter of minutes, the group had gotten all of their gear together from inside the house. Now that they were all packed and ready to go, they had met back up with the dragons in the backyard.

"Everyone have what they need?" asked Warren.

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Bracken all responded positively.

"Dale's set to look after Vanessa, too," said Kendra.

"Good," said Warren, nodding in approval. "Now, we're gonna get a little wet during this next part, so get up onto a dragon."

As he spoke, Warren climbed up onto Firesquall's backside, prompting the green wyvern to turn his head back towards him.

"Easy for you to say," said Firesquall. "You guys get to sit on us!"

"It's for the best," said Bracken, as he climbed up onto Raxtus' back, where he seated himself behind Kendra.

Once the riders had all mounted their dragons, the group huddled together. Warren then wound up the Translocator and held it out for everyone to touch.

"Ready?" asked Warren. "Let's do this."

Everyone proceeded to reach out and touched the Translocator with either the tip of a hand or claw. Once everybody had made contact with the artifact. Warren twisted it again.

In an instant, the group found themselves being pulled through space by the power of the Translocator. Next thing Kendra and Seth knew, the dragons had fallen down several feet and splashed into a vast body of water.

The boots and lower parts of every rider's jeans suddenly became drenched as they sunk beneath the surface of the water. A moment later, they rose out of the water as their dragons buoyed themselves by wading.

"Holy!" exclaimed Seth, trying to wipe some excess water off of a leg of his soaked jeans, only realizing that they would need to be squeeze-dried at this point. "This water's freezing!"

Kendra around gazed at her surroundings. There was nothing but water in every direction, with no sign of land. However, she did see the silver buoy floating in the water, just a few feet off in one direction.

"This must be the place," said Bracken. "I remember that buoy."

"Where's the Floodmaze?" asked Seth, as he looked around, expecting to find something. "All I see is water, water everywhere."

"Right below us," said Geminus.

Skyfrost and Firesquall both dunked their heads beneath the surface of the water. A moment later, they both pulled their heads back out.

"I didn't see no Floodmaze!" snapped Skyfrost, as Firesquall nodded in agreement.

"It's only the entrance," said Raxtus. "And it was a small hole, too."

"Come on," said Bracken. "We've got something more important to deal with. Besides, the Floodmaze was unnerving and disorienting. Not entirely fun."

"But you guys got to be merfolk down there!" exclaimed Ingrid. "I was so jealous when I found out."

"Forget it," said Warren. "You know the way to Minneapolis from here, Firesquall?"

"Yup," said Firesquall. "It's due southwest."

"Good. Let's roll!"

Firesquall began to flap his wings. After smacking them against the surface of the water a few times, the wyvern began to rise up into the air, prompting the other dragons to follow his lead. Within a few seconds, all four of the dragons were floating several feet above the lake, excess water dripping off of their bodies.

Now that they were all in the air, the dragons began to fly up towards the sky. As they ascended, Kendra looked down at Lake Superior beneath her. Even from above, water was all the she could see down below in every direction.

Before long, the dragons had risen up into the clouds, which were now obscuring the view of the lake beneath them. Although the wind was rushing past their faces, Kendra and Seth could still feel the dampness of the water that was caught in their jeans and boots.

"Hey, Bracken," said Seth. "Any chance you could dry us off a bit?"

"I was hoping to conserve my power for a bit," said Bracken. "But I'm inclined to agree."

Bracken proceeded to snap his fingers with both of his hands at once. Suddenly, Seth and Kendra could both feel that their lower legs were now completely dry, as though they had never gotten wet in the first place. Presumably, Bracken had done the same to Ingrid, Warren and himself.

"Thanks, Bracken," said Warren. "I hate wearing wet socks. Another minute and I would've gone the rest of the flight barefoot."

The dragons continued their flight across the clouds for about an hour. While fun, the flight was pretty uneventful.

"I think we're almost there," said Raxtus, staring down at the layer of clouds that he was currently soaring over.

"I trust you," said Warren, checking his tablet. "If your intuition is right, Minneapolis should be dead ahead."

The dragons all dove down beneath the clouds, until the land below had come into sight. Surely enough, they could see what appeared to be city within their sights. Several blocks of office towers were the only buildings that could clearly be made out from their current height. Surrounding the office towers were roads, expressways and miles of low-rise buildings.

"Is this it?" asked Seth. "Have we reached Minneapolis?"

"I think we're right on the money," said Warren.

"Where exactly in Minneapolis does Maddox live?" asked Geminus.

"In the Southwest district of town," said Warren. "Let's fly towards it, and I'll try to deduce where exactly it is. Hopefully we can land somewhere nearby."

The dragons flew across the city, then proceeded to descend down towards what appeared to be a residential neighborhood. As they flew lower, Kendra and Seth could start seeing as individual houses came into view.

"Come in for a landing at that park down there," said Warren, pointing to a grassy square of land once they were no more than two-hundred feet above the ground.

The dragons soared down towards the grassy area that Warren had directed them towards. As they came in for a landing between some trees, the dragons slowed their descent. Kendra admired the beautiful autumn colors of the foliage in the ash trees as Raxtus cautiously lowered himself past their branches on his way down to the ground.

Once the dragons had all set their talons upon the grass, their riders all dismounted them.

"Well," said Geminus. "We made it."

Kendra looked around the park. Not a huge place, the park was seemingly the size of a city block. In addition to the trees that surrounded them, there were also bushes, benches and a small playground, as well as a dirt trail running from one side of the park to the other.

"So, where's Maddox's place from here?" asked Ingrid.

"Let's see," said Warren, looking over his tablet again. "If we landed where I think we are... Uh... Let's go see what those streets at the edge of the park are."

"What about us?" asked Skyfrost.

"You can't really follow us like Raxtus and Geminus," said Kendra. "We don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

"So far so good," said Ingrid. "The only other person in the park I saw is some guy walking his dog. And we didn't seem to attract his attention."

"Stay in the air above us," said Warren, speaking to the wyverns. "Raxtus. Geminus. Come with us."

Skyfrost and Firesquall shot back up into the air, where they opted to hover around about one-hundred feet above the ground. Meanwhile, Raxtus and Geminus both shrank down into their fairy-sized forms.

The group then walked towards a corner of the park, which served as one of the corners of an intersection. Warren glanced up at the street signs that were posted on the pole of a traffic light.

"I know exactly where we are now," said Warren. "Maddox's place should only be a couple of blocks from here."

Once the light turned green, the group crossed the street and proceeded to walk down several blocks consisting of nothing but rows of houses, each of which had a small lawn in the front. Soon they stopped in front of one particular house.

"This must be it," said Warren, looking up at the house.

"Maddox lives _here_?" asked Seth. "Before today, I would've thought he lived on a huge property with fairies flying everywhere."

"Guess we can't all have that luxury," said Kendra.

The group walked along the short path that took them from the sidewalk, across the lawn and up a few steps to the porch, where Warren rung the doorbell.

A moment later, footsteps could be heard approaching the door, which was opened up from the inside by none other than Maddox Fisk himself. Compared to even Warren, Maddox stood out due to his imposing stature, husky build, thick curly hair and shaggy beard.

"Warren!" exclaimed Maddox. "Kendra! Seth! Bracken! And Ingrid! I'm so glad you're here! What happened here was just awful!"

"We know," said Geminus, as she and Raxtus both floated up in front of Maddox's face.

"Raxtus and Geminus! I only wish we could've met up under kinder circumstances."

"As do we," said Warren, as he extended his hand, only to receive a hug from Maddox. In turn, Warren hugged him back.

"The damage," said Kendra. "Where is it? Your house looks to be in pretty good shape."

"It's all in the back," said Maddox. "Come on, I'll show you."

Maddox escorted the group into the front hall of his house, then closed the door behind them. From what Kendra could gather by observing the interior and decor of Maddox's house, the place appeared to be quite normal; no real indicators that the resident was actually a fairy trader.

The group followed Maddox into his kitchen, at the far end of which was a door covered by a yellow curtain. As Maddox placed his hand upon the doorknob, he turned his head back to the group, but did not proceed to open the door.

"What is it?" asked Bracken.

"There's someone else here," replied Maddox. "He came here not long ago to investigate."

"What?" asked Warren, as Maddox proceeded to push the door open. "Maddox, who else would even be here?"

"A police officer?" asked Kendra, as Maddox directed the group out onto his back deck.

Kendra and Seth looked down at the yard that stood before them. If Kendra had to pick one word to describe what she saw, it would be _disaster_.

The branches and early autumn foliage of a tree that had been ripped in half vertically were sprawled out across the back end of the yard. Pieces of rubble and crafted wood were scattered all over the place. Clumps of soil, grass and fragments of flowers had also been littered all over the grass.

"Oh no!" gasped Geminus. "This is awful!"

However, what truly caught Kendra's attention was the other visitor standing in the middle of the yard. His back initially turned away from the group, the man turned, prompting everyone to make eye contact with the group.

"They're here," said Maddox, as he walked down the steps from his deck and over to the stranger. As if by instinct, the group followed him.

As they approached the man, Kendra couldn't help but feel drawn to him. The man was tall and sported a well-built physique. He had long, flowing, brown hair and striking blue eyes. He didn't look a day over twenty.

Maddox clasped his hands together. "I don't believe you folks have met. Knights of the Dawn, this man is Jeremy Keenheart. Jeremy, these visitors are Warren Burgess, Kendra, Seth and Ingrid Sorenson, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus."

"Hello," said Jeremy, as he flashed a brilliant smile. "I do wish we didn't have to meet under such extenuating circumstances."

"I took the liberty of explaining to Jeremy who you all were before you got here," said Maddox.

"Who _are_ you?" asked Seth.

"I suppose an explanation is in order," replied Jeremy. "I am a demon tracker. Or rather, I am _the_ demon tracker, since the only one I'm aware of is... myself."

" A demon tracker?" asked Ingrid. "What do you do?"

"Presumably, he tracks demons," said Warren.

Jeremy laughed. "Yes, but there's a bit more to it than that."

Staring at Jeremy, Kendra couldn't think of anything to say. Her inexplicable fascination with him left her speechless.

"Kendra," said Bracken in a soft whisper, as he grabbed her shoulder from behind, startling her.

"Bracken, what?" asked Kendra, turning her head back towards Bracken as he pulled her away from the others.

"This man," said Bracken, pressing his lips up to Kendra's ear. "He's not normal. He may not even be human!"

Kendra huffed. "Are you sure?" she whispered back to Bracken. "What _is_ he then?"

"I'm not sure as to _what_ he is. I'm sensing powerful energy from him. But at the same time, it feels like a false-positive reading. It's pretty strange."

"Excuse me," said Jeremy, directing his attention to Kendra and Bracken. "But you're Bracken, right?"

"Yeah..." replied Bracken, looking over at Jeremy.

"I'm sensing some _unusual_ energies from you. You wouldn't by any chance be a _unicorn_ , would you?"

"I am. But... how were you able to tell? I mean, I can tell you're not a normal human. What exactly _are_ you? I can't put my finger on it."

Jeremy nodded. "Very well. I imagine that my _condition_ must draw some questions. You see, I am the descendant of a wizard. I'm not a proper wizard myself, but I do have some magical prowess."

"A wizard?" exclaimed Seth. "You're saying you had _dragon_ ancestors?"

"Precisely. However, I do not possess a dragon form. That quality is long gone. But, I am able to sense and track creatures of light and darkness."

"So, what brought you here?" asked Kendra.

"Isn't it obvious? Look at the yard around you! Demons came here and trashed the place! Killed every fairy they could get their claws on!"

"You just came here?" asked Warren.

"I've been sensing highly unusual levels of demon activity for the past few weeks," replied Jeremy. "For the most part, there had been nothing too severe. But yesterday there seemed to be a spike throughout the entire country. I've been trying to track any demons I could, stopping only to sleep. I ultimately found my way to this very yard. Regrettably, I was too late."

"What did you intend to do with the demons if you managed to find them?" asked Bracken.

"I could subdue them. Or _die_ trying."

"I feel like we've been bombarding you with questions, Jeremy," said Seth. "Maybe we should tell you a bit about ourselves?"

Jeremy scanned the group. He stopped his eyes for a moment to glance at Kendra, then once more to observe Seth. After staring at Seth for a moment, Jeremy's eyes lit up.

"What is it?" asked Seth.

"Sorry," said Jeremy, as he squinted his eyes shut and shook his head. "I can't help but be drawn to the two of you. It's nothing personal."

"I understand," said Kendra.

Jeremy nodded. "I... should really get going."

"You're going?" asked Raxtus. "But we just got here!"

"I realize that. However I came here mainly to track down the demons that were here earlier and got a good sense of them. Now that you've arrived, I really have no need to stay here. I'm a demon tracker. I need to move on. Now, if you'll excuse me... I shall be going."

Jeremy raised his hands up above his head, and they started to emit a bluish glow.

"Wait!" exclaimed Warren. "We still have so much to ask you!"

"Sorry," said Jeremy. But I work alone. It was nice meeting you. Hopefully I can find these horrible demons and make them pay for their wrongdoings. The longer I procrastinate, the further away they'll get. Good luck with your mission, too."

Jeremy clapped his glowing hands together, then disappeared in a flash of light.

"Where'd he go?" asked Ingrid.

"Who knows," said Bracken. "Obviously, he doesn't want anyone following him."

"Is he even on our side? He seemed very hesitant."

"Jeremy has dragon blood coursing through his veins," said Maddox. "We should be grateful he wasn't any harsher, all things considered."

At that moment, Raxtus and Geminus flew up in front of Maddox, both of them crossing their arms in disapproval.

"Ahh... present company excepted."

"Look at it this way," said Seth. "Jeremy at least _seems_ to be on our side."

"Too bad he isn't willing to _work_ on our side," said Ingrid.

Kendra rolled her eyes. "After what happened with Gavin, I don't know _what_ to think of Jeremy. If he stops those demons, great. Still, there was something about him I couldn't put my finger on. I found myself... _drawn_ to him."

"Well, he _was_ pretty handsome," said Ingrid. "Nothing against you, Seth. But he _is_ an adult."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Seth.

"You know, as long as Jeremy stays out of our hair, I can't see any reason to complain about him," said Warren.

"There was just a certain something about him," said Kendra. "Although, to be honest, Gavin was more dragon than wizard. Jeremy seems to fall into a league of his own."

"I at least wish I knew where he went," said Maddox. "If he doesn't want to be bothered, fine. "But I'd still like to know where to find him."

"The Oculus!" said Seth. "We didn't bring it, but we could go back to Fablehaven and grab it!"

"Perhaps not, Seth," said Bracken. "As intriguing as Jeremy seemed, he was not a threat to us. I feel that using the Oculus to spy on Jeremy without suspicion would just be wrong. He clearly wants to be alone. Would _you_ like it if someone was spying on you?"

"You have a point," said Seth. "But... if the guy can track down demons like he said, he'd be a great ally to have on our side. Too bad he works alone. He probably thinks we'd slow him down or something."

"I wonder," Ingrid. "If Jeremy was able to sense the recent demon outbreaks... could there be others out there who are also able to do so?"

"Let's not dwell on the subject too much," said Maddox. "Jeremy isn't even the reason you came here..."

Maddox extended his arm, directing the group's attention back to the ravaged yard that lay before them.


	9. Loose Ends

**Chapter 9: Loose Ends**

Kendra glanced around at the demolished yard that surrounded her and the rest of her group. With Jeremy no longer around to serve as the center of attention, Kendra could now observe just how badly the yard had been wrecked.

"Let me guess," said Seth. "You want us to use our powers to fix your yard, Maddox?"

Maddox chuckled. "That _would_ be nice, wouldn't it? Alas, no. I spoke to my neighbor upon my return home. He didn't witness any commotion, from what I can tell. But we can't fix the yard using magic, or it'll arouse suspicion. See, he's not aware of the world of magical creatures, which is rather ironic, seeing as how he literally lives right next door to a fairy residence. Or at least, he _used_ to."

"Maddox," said Bracken. "I'm deeply sorry for this incident. I feel greatly pained hearing about the loss of every fairy who was here."

Geminus nodded. "What exactly _can_ we do to help?"

"I need you to analyze the protective spell that guards the yard," replied Maddox. "See if it is still intact, and do whatever you can to strengthen it. Just because the fairies that were here yesterday are gone doesn't mean more can't come back in the future."

"Very well," said Bracken. "Raxtus. Geminus. Assume your dragon forms."

Raxtus and Geminus both nodded, then fluttered down to the ground, making sure there was a good amount of space between both the two of them and everybody else. Suddenly, both of the fairies grew larger in size, as they transmogrified themselves into their dragon forms.

"Is it safe to come down now?" asked Skyfrost, whose voice came from up above.

Everyone looked up and saw that Skyfrost and Firesquall were both perched upon the roof of Maddox's house.

"Who was that guy?"asked Firesquall. "And where'd he go?"

"You can come down," said Maddox, speaking up to the wyverns. "But try to keep a low profile. Stay on the safe side."

Skyfrost and Firesquall both bounced off of the roof, extending their wings outwards to slow their fall as they dropped down into the backyard.

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all gathered together, then stood in a circle in the center of the yard. The three of them then held hands and closed their eyes.

"What exactly are they doing?" asked Ingrid.

"Securing the barrier that protects the yard," said Maddox. "Hopefully, it will do the trick and keep out any more unwanted demons."

A blinding flash of light pulsated outward from where Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus were standing.

"That should do it," said Bracken, as he opened his eyes and released his grasp from the dragons.

"There was no barrier here," said Raxtus. "Therefore, the demons that were here destroyed the old one when they arrived."

"What are you going to do about your career, Maddox?" asked Seth.

"Well, I just got back from a sale," replied Maddox. "My last one for a while, no doubt. Not until I get this place all fixed up will I look into bringing back more fairies here. Mind you, my yard is not meant to be a permanent home or nothing. It's just a place for fairies to reside until I'm ready to exchange or sell them."

"Is there anything else we can do to help?" asked Bracken.

Maddox sighed, then shook his head. "Nah. The damage is done. Don't worry about the mess. I'll have a crew come clean it up as soon as possible."

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Warren. "Would you like to come back to Fablehaven with us for a while? Be with some company? We can get back instantly with the Translocator."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I have business I need to attend to here. Mind you, that Translocator really _is_ a wonder. At least I'll get to see you folks use it when you leave."

Warren nodded, then went ahead and removed the artifact from his bag.

"I'll never understand how that thing truly works," said Maddox, as the rest of the group proceeded to crowd around the Translocator.

"I don't think any of us truly do," said Firesquall."

"I'm not too concerned about _how_ it works," said Seth. "I just like that it works. And it works well."

"Someone touching the Translocator just _thinks_ of where they want to go, and, and it magically sends them and everyone else touching it to the desired location, right?" asked Maddox.

'You knew that, didn't you?" asked Kendra.

"Yeah. I've only used the Translocator once, and that was to leave Living Mirage after the Zzyzx incident. Would certainly make my journeys a whole lot easier."

"If you feel you really need it sometime, maybe speak to Stan about it," said Warren.

"Will do," said Maddox. "Then again, I do enjoy my expeditions. Take care! And thank you so much for coming."

The group bid their farewells to Maddox, as Warren wound up the Translocator. Once everyone was making contact with the artifact, Warren twisted it again, transporting the entire group back to the yard at Fablehaven.

"Poor fairies," said Bracken, as he let go of the Translocator. "I've never been that keen on the whole concept of people capturing fairies and trading them around like they're merchandise."

"Maddox is very humane in the way he handles fairies," said Warren. "He treats them with the utmost care and respect."

"I know. And I know that he provides an invaluable service. But at the same time, the fairies don't have much control over their fate. And now the fairies that _were_ residing at Maddox's home are gone."

"That wasn't his fault," said Kendra. "Nobody could've predicted these fairy attacks."

"And what if there's more of them?" asked Geminus.

"We're going to look intro preventing more of them right away," said Warren. "Come on, let's go inside and speak to Stan."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all made their way back inside the house, whist the dragons flew back to their cave. Inside the house, the group met up with Grandpa, who brought them into his study. Grandpa sat down in the chair behind his desk. Kendra and Ingrid sat down in the two chairs in front of it, while Seth, Warren and Bracken sat down on the couch that was on one side of the room.

"How bad was it?" asked Grandpa.

"It was a horrific sight," replied Bracken. "Seeing Maddox's property, knowing what it once was... it just broke my heart."

"Bracken and the fairy dragons did manage to reinforce the yard, at least," said Warren. "At least the next fairies that Maddox obtains won't be defenseless. That is, if there aren't any more demon attacks."

"These attacks just keep coming and coming!" exclaimed Ingrid. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We've been doing everything we can so far," said Grandpa. "At this point, the best thing we can do, which we've been doing, is to alert the caretakers and guardians of other fairy shrines. As for fairy traders like Maddox, we've spread the word. We've asked them to transport their fairies to preserves for safe keeping, at least for the time being. Their homes are not the safest place for fairies to be so long as these attacks are ongoing."

"That's good to hear," said Bracken. "But still, what is the source of all these demon attacks, and how can we stop them altogether?"

"Maybe we could set up some kind of trap?" asked Ingrid. "Something to lure in demons, that would allow us to catch them?"

"That would be a good idea," said Grandpa. "However, demons can be very dangerous and quite powerful."

"Stan has a point," said Warren. "You can't just drop a cage on some unsuspecting demon and call it a day. Demons are very hard to contain."

"Then how exactly _do_ you catch a demon?" asked Seth. "Clearly it's been done before."

"Demons really need to be poached," replied Grandpa. "It's far from safe, but it's not impossible for talented individuals to pull off. And when I say talented, I mean on the same level as someone like Patton Burgess."

"Grandpa!" exclaimed Seth. "There's something important we need to tell you! There was this guy at Maddox's place who was a demon tracker!"

"Oh yes. Jeremy Keenheart, was it? Maddox spoke to me about him before you arrived at his place."

"He was really peculiar," said Kendra. "He said he was part dragon. And he was really intent on finding the demons that attacked Maddox's yard."

"He seemed kind of hesitant to cooperate with us, too," said Ingrid. "He didn't strike me as mean or anything. But he had a certain vibe to him."

"I can't say that I'm familiar with people who are descended from wizards," said Grandpa. "Which were once dragons. But most dragons are... and don't go mentioning this to Raxtus and his brood. But most dragons think very highly of themselves, and detest sharing. If that's the case, then it wouldn't surprise me if Jeremy had a couple of dragon traits still floating around through his blood. As wizards, some of them learn to control themselves, such as with Agad. But others... it can be a different story."

"At least he's trying to help," said Warren. "If he finds the demons and deals with them, great. If not, no harm done. I just hope he has better luck finding them than we did."

"Forget luck," said Seth. "This sounds like it takes skill. A certain skill that none of us possess."

"We still don't know what jump-started all of these demon attacks," said Bracken. "If we could find the source of all this trouble, it would make things a whole lot easier."

"Yes," said Grandpa. "That _would_ be great. Unfortunately, it's doesn't seem like it will be that easy. We simply have no real leads, and no clue as to where we should start searching."

"Then what can we do at this point?" asked Kendra.

"Now? Right now, I think we should just lay low for a while. I realize that there could still be more demon attacks. But we _have_ been making an effort to secure more fairy shrines. Even if we can't stop the demons outright, hopefully, with no more shrines that they can reach, this whole thing will just die down."

"You're saying, we should just stop?" asked Ingrid.

"Precisely. I ask that you all still remain on duty, of course. But for the time being, stop worrying about demons and fairies. Just continue with your schooling for now."

Warren eyed the small, analogue clock that was sitting on Grandpa's desk, and winced.

"You kids are already late for your mom's lesson," said Warren.

"I'll speak with her," said Grandpa. "You were off on official business."

Indeed, Grandpa had a small chat with Mrs. Sorenson, and she agreed to give the kids the rest of the morning off. The group then rested until noon, when they ate lunch with the rest of the family.

After lunch, Kendra and Ingrid went into the yard with Warren for their training session, while Seth traveled to Wingadoon with the Translocator. Upon arriving in the city within the clouds, Seth went up to Hope's residence and greeted the angel at her door.

"Good afternoon, Seth," said Hope. "I missed you yesterday. Clover told me about what happened at those fairy shrines down on Earth. I was truly appalled to hear about everything."

Seth sighed. "You're all lucky up here. No demons can reach this place."

"Thank goodness. Although, I would still feel better if Wingadoon had some extra protection. You never what could be driving those demons. Maybe once all the other shrines on Earth have been secured."

"Hope," said Seth. "I want to talk to you about my lessons."

Hope placed a hand on Seth's shoulder, then stared directly into his face with her brilliant blue eyes and smiled. "Of course, Seth. What is it?"

"Look. I'm going to be honest. I don't know if I'm gaining too much from these lessons anymore. I know I haven't been your student for very long, but I feel that I can only do so much. I've been trying to become an angel without additional help, but I can't seem to pull it off, no matter how hard I try. I hope that you're not upset."

"I understand," said Hope, nodding. "Seth, the whole reason I offered you this training was so that you could become better acquainted with your new-found abilities. And, you've shown me that you've made real progress since you started."

"But I can't do _everything_."

"I'm not going to push you. You're the only angelkind individual that the world has ever known. There's no standard for you to follow. I wanted for you to reach your fullest potential as an angel. And perhaps, you've already reached that point."

"There's not anything else you can teach me, is there?" asked Seth.

"I've been an angel my entire life. I've never been a human. But, I know what angels are capable of, and you certainly seem to have gotten everything down pat. At this point, I'd say that the only thing you lack is experience. Beyond that, there really isn't much else that I can teach you."

Seth nodded. "I was wondering. So long as I've gotten better at being an angel, would it be okay if I cut back on my lessons?"

"Cut back?" asked Hope.

"Yeah. I want to spend more time training with Warren. I don't want to abandon you and your training outright. But at the same time, I don't feel that I need to come here five days a week, when I could instead be honing my physical skills."

"I understand," said Hope. "As angel-like as you may be, you ultimately are, always have been, and always will be, a human being. Therefore, it's important that you don't neglect your true nature. Nevertheless, you are still inexperienced as an angel."

"What are you proposing?" asked Seth.

"Starting next week, I want you to visit me on only two days, rather than five."

"Really?"

Hope nodded. "You've made real progress. And you've only been coming here a couple of weeks. Congratulations, Seth. I'm very proud of you."

Hope then held out her arms, and proceeded to embrace Seth in a hug. As her arms pressed against his body, Seth could feel his wings extending out from his backside, pushing against Hope's arms.

"Easy, Seth!" said Hope, "as she released her grasp on the angelkind boy. "I wasn't ready for that just yet!"

"Your're an angel, and you made me happy," said Seth as he flashed a smile. "What did you think would happen? You're supposed to be the expert here."

After his lesson had finished, Seth returned to Fablehaven, just as Kendra and Ingrid had finished up their training with Warren. Naturally, Seth found himself unable to refrain from telling everyone about his achievement in Wingadoon.

"That's great!" said Warren. "Glad to hear you've been making progress. I guess you'll be joining your sisters and I come Monday afternoon!"

"Why wait until then?" asked Seth. "We've still got a few hours until dinner. Let's do something now! A little extra credit maybe?"

"Sorry, Seth. But we are _pooped_. We'll have plenty of training sessions to look forward to. Don't you worry."

The group took it easy until it was time for dinner, where they joined the rest of the family in the dining room. According to what Grandpa had to report from what Trask had told him, a great effort had been made in securing more fairy shrines all over the world.

"At the rate things are going," said Grandma. "We should have protection provided to every last fairy shrine in just a few days."

"Not only that," said Grandpa. "But there haven't been any more incidents since what went on at Maddox's place. That's not to say there won't for sure be any more, but it's a sign of improvement, nonetheless."

"You know, Seth," said Ingrid, "Since Mom's class was cancelled today, I don't have any extra homework. Want to hang out?"

"Sure!" said Seth. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

Ingrid shook her head. "Nah. I want to spend some time outside. Just the two of us."

Seth nodded at Ingrid and smiled. "That sounds great!"

After finishing dinner, Seth and Ingrid went outside and began walking down a dirt path leading into the woods. Although there were areas of Fablehaven that Seth and Ingrid knew better than to enter, the path itself was safe ground.

"Seth, I've really been in such a good mood today," said Ingrid. "At least since coming back from Maddox's, that is. Which is saying something, considering all of that chaos that went on at those fairy gardens."

"I'd still like to know what caused everything," said Seth. "You think maybe that Jeremy guy might know?"

"Who knows? Personally, he seemed a bit high-and-mighty to me. But enough about him. You're the one I'm proud of."

Ingrid placed her hand around Seth's as they continued their stroll through the woods.

"You're really of me?" asked Seth.

"Why wouldn't I be proud of you? You're an angel. You've obviously matured. I don't understand why Kendra always said you were such a brat. "

"What?" blurted Seth. "What's Kendra been telling you?"

"Lots of things. That she caught you sneaking a peek at her diary. That you stole some of her Halloween candy and denied it, even though she knew it was you. Then there was the time that you locked yourself in her room for sixteen hours because she wouldn't let you watch TV when your parents were out of town one weekend..."

"She told you all that?" groaned Seth, as he pulled his hand away from Ingrid. "Look, I've got plenty of dirt on her!"

"Seth, relax," said Ingrid. "We're family. It's okay if Kendra shares some secrets with me."

"Hey, I'm family too! And let me tell you about Kendra! She's not exactly the fairy princess you think she is..."

Seth proceeded to let out a deep yawn, as did Ingrid.

"Seth, are you feeling... tired?" asked Ingrid.

Seth suddenly found that he was now inexplicably exhausted. As though he was about to pass out.

"Ingrid," said Seth. "I do feel tired. Really tired."

Unable to keep his balance, Seth fell forward onto his arms, his body landing on the trail. At the same time, Ingrid fell over in a similar manner.

"Seth..." yawned Ingrid. "Why are we so tired?"

"I don't know..." whimpered Seth, whose entire body was now feeling incredibly weak "I can't even get up. What's happening?"

"Seth..." gasped Ingrid, as she closed her eyes.

Seth wanted to get up, but he couldn't. Instead, all he could do now was close his eyelids. He tried as much as he could to open them up again, but he couldn't. He had now fallen asleep.


	10. The Dark Unicorn

**Chapter 10: The Dark Unicorn**

Overcome with a feeling of both wooziness and grogginess, Seth slowly opened his eyes. Letting out a very deep yawn, Seth was quick to discover that he was no longer lying down upon the dirt trail at Fablehaven.

As he slowly regained consciousness, Seth realized that he was now in what appeared to be some sort of cave. To one side of Seth was a dead end; at the other stood a barred wall. He was now seemingly trapped within a small section of a cave. On top of the inexplicable change of location, Ingrid was nowhere to be found.

"Wake up," said a stern voice, coming from the other side of the bars. Having failed to notice the figure up until now, Seth peered through the bars and looked up at the figure. Standing outside the "cell" that Seth was now trapped in was Jeremy.

"J-J-Jeremy?" asked Seth, who had now come to his senses. "What happened? What's going on?"

Jeremy laughed. "Oh, Seth. You are so naive."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth, as he stood up and grasped onto the bars of his cell, glaring at Jeremy intently. "How did I even get here?"

"I want you, Seth. I know about your true power. I can sense it."

"My true power? I thought you were going after demons! You said you were a demon tracker! What do you want with me, Jeremy?"

"First thing's first. My name is not _Jeremy Keenheart_. And I am not a _demon tracker_. I am a unicorn. And my name is Ronodin."

Seth could not believe what he was hearing. He had heard of the name Ronodin, but only in passing by Bracken a few times. Bracken had mentioned that Ronodin was a dark unicorn, who obtained his status by corrupting his own horns.

"Ronodin?" asked Seth. "I've heard about you! You're that dark unicorn!"

"Indeed I am. Did your friend _Bracken_ tell you about me?"

Seth disregarded Ronodin's comment and snarled at him. "Let me out of this cage! What kind of unicorn are you, anyway?"

"Seth, if I let you out of this cage, you're just going to run away. Which would defeat the purpose of me having gone through all the trouble of catching you in the first place."

"What about Ingrid?" asked Seth. "What did you do with her?"

"Ingrid is back at Fablehaven," replied Ronodin. "I had no vendetta towards her. However, she is fundamentally useless to me, so I left here where I captured you. You needn't worry about her."

"Well, she's going to be worried sick about me! And so's the rest of my family! What did you capture me for? And where the hell even is this place?"

"I won't say," said Ronodin. "You know, Seth, there were many members of your group that possessed magical properties. But you were the only one amongst them who was angelic. I could tell that the moment I laid my eyes upon you."

Seth moved his right hand downwards and pressed it against the front pocket of his pants, trying to feel around for his phone. But it was empty. He then felt the other side with his left hand. It too was empty. The rest of his belongings, such as his wallet and the Pyruby, he had left back at home.

"Looking for _this_?" asked Ronodin, as he held up Seth's phone in his hand.

"Give that back!" blurted Seth.

Ronodin shook his head. "You won't be needing this. I don't like the idea of stealing, but I'm not too confident that you should be trusted with this."

"You don't like stealing, says the guy who just _abducted_ me from my own home!"

Ronodin frowned towards Seth, then set his phone down on a ledge near to where he was standing. "There's more to it then that."

"So I'm angelic," said Seth. "What exactly do you want with me?"

"As a unicorn, I have plenty of fairy magic at my disposal. And your comrades have plenty of fairy magic to spare. Especially your sister Kendra, who was intriguing, but not what I was truly after. But angel magic? Up until today, I thought angels, pegasi and their power were all but a memory."

"I'm afraid to ask. What do you intend to do with my power?"

Ronodin laughed. "Clearly, you're well aware of the demonic uprising that has been plaguing the world as of late? But, do you know _why_ it's happening?"

Seth shook his head. "Not really. Why then? And for that matter, what's the deal with _you_?"

"You really don't know, do you? But, rather than go off on a whole other tangent, I suppose I owe it to you to tell you about myself. You see, a long time ago, I was born a perfectly normal unicorn. Not on a preserve, but in the wild. When I was very young, something terrible happened. Both of my parents were killed by rogue demons. It was one of my earliest memories. I was only a colt at the time. My first horn hadn't even grown in fully."

"Did the demons corrupt your horn?"

"No. In fact, the demons thought that I was so weak comparatively, that they left me alone. But I saw them maul my parents to death."

"You know, if you weren't so cruel to me, I might actually be feeling sorry for you," said Seth. "And speaking of that, how did your horns get corrupted in the first place?"

"I corrupted my horns voluntarily. I imagine you're aware of that. But as to why I did so, it was for... power."

"Power?" asked Seth. "What kind of power?"

"I wanted revenge on the demons that killed my parents. From the day they died up until today, that desire has never waned. When I shed my first horn, I brought it to a shaman so that he could infuse it with darkness."

"Why would you do that? How's darkening your horn supposed to get revenge on demons?"

"Because I can use said horn to spread my influence over demons. With my first horn, I can terrify demons. With my second horn, I can _control_ them."

"Control them?"

"Yes. As punishment for killing my parents, I can make any demon do my bidding. It's a very useful power, but I'd trade it in a heartbeat for the demise of demons everywhere."

"And your third horn?"

"Still intact. Not corrupted. I have regrets over corrupting my first two horns. I have tainted myself. But it was a necessary evil."

Grasping onto the bars of the cage, Seth tried his hardest to pry them outward, but could not so much as bend them even in the slightest.

"If you can already control demons, I don't even know what you want to do with me," said Seth. "You sound like a hypocrite if you seek to destroy demons, yet also want to control them. Let me go!"

"Perish the thought," said Ronodin. "Demon activity levels are at an all-time high right now. And, while I may have the power to control them, I am unable to do so on a grand scale. That's where _you_ come in."

Seth lowered his brow towards Ronodin. "You act like you know everything. Yet you want my help. Why don't you tell me why demons have been running amok lately."

"A valid question. Very well, Seth, I will tell you. You see, for years I have been living in secrecy, knowing full well that I do not possess the strength to eradicate the world of demons. I make it a point to travel the world, searching for demons wherever they may be. If I find a demon, I make an effort to destroy it. However, if it shows potential, I instead consider taking control over it, making it my slave."

"I see," said Seth. "But, that doesn't answer my question."

"I was getting to that. You see, it was only the other week during my travels that I sensed increased demon activity. There was no explanation for it that I could determine. So, upon finding the first rogue demon I came across, rather than dealing with him the traditional way, I interrogated him. He explained that the Demon Domain... had been obliterated. That the connection between this world and there had been severed. As such, demons everywhere went into a frenzy, no longer being able to sense their homeworld."

Seth nodded, pretending to feign ignorance. He didn't know if it would be wise to explain to Ronodin as to what actually happened to cause the downfall of the Demon Domain.

"Of course," continued Ronodin, "he was unable to tell me as to _why_ the Demon Domain had collapsed. That ultimately required some more investigating on my behalf. The only reason I was concerned, mind you, was in case whatever terminated that world could also do the same to this one."

"Yeah, that would be pretty bad," said Seth.

"Hold on," said Ronodin, eyeing Seth intently. "I haven't even gotten to the best part. You see, I continued pursuing demons throughout the world over the next few days. And low and behold, I stumbled upon two particular demons who were willing to share some very crucial information with me."

"What... kind of information?"

"Most of the demons that I stumble upon tend to reside in the countryside. Far away from civilization and humans. But these two demons were not found in any countryside. No, quite the opposite. I found them in a major city."

"What's your point?" asked Seth, not sure if he still wanted to know where Ronodin's story was heading at this point. "Maddox lives in a city and demons still managed to find their way into his yard! So do the Landrys."

"Ah yes," said Ronodin. "But in those instances, the demons were attracted to the fairies on their respective properties from afar. But these two demons that I found were nowhere near a fairy shrine."

"Where were they, then?"

"New York City. Both of them were lying on top of a highrise, completely weakened and unconscious. It astounded me that they were even still alive given how they ended up there. You wouldn't have any idea as to how they got there, would you, Seth?"

"You found two weakened demons at the top of some building in New York?" asked Seth. "What are you getting at? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do," said Ronodin. "These are two demons with whom you are well acquainted."

"That's impossible. Any demon that I could've known is dead."

"Let me jog your memory a bit. The demons didn't get to the roof of the building by coming up from the street. Rather, they fell from the sky. But these demons couldn't fly; they fell out of a portal that linked between the the Demon Domain and this world."

Seth thought back to his final encounter with Murdred. Helwic had indeed opened a portal leading to the sky above New York City that was intended for Murdred to pass through. Seth actually fell through the portal, but was rescued from falling by Kendra. But no demons had passed through it.

"What demons are you talking about?"

"These two demons, their names are Snort and Snout. They were sentries who worked in Murdred's castle. They told me all about how Seth Sorenson developed angelic powers and defeated their lord, alongside his fariykind sister Kendra. You are an angel, Seth Sorenson! The demons were right. Besides, I can sense unusual energies emanating from you too."

"Snort and Snout?" asked Seth. "They told you everything? About me? About what happened?

Ronodin smiled. "Absolutely. I found their story hard to believe, but it was better than having nothing to go on."

"How did they... end up in New York?" asked Seth, not being able to recall Snort and Snout ever passing through the portal.

"After you defeated Murdred, the entire Demon Domain started to collapsed in on itself. However, Snort and Snout were watching from the sidelines. You remember that portal leading to New York, don't you? It was never properly closed."

Seth thought back to after Murdred had been destroyed. Because the Demon Domain was in the process of imploding, Seth and the rest of his allies had scrambled to the dungeon of the castle to rescue the Singing Sisters. However, they made no effort to close up the portal to New York.

"Did Snort and Snout just... jump through the portal? Did they not realize how dangerous that was?"

"When the entire world around you is caving in on itself, and there's a portal to another dimension right there, you take your chances with the portal," said Ronodin.

"So... they just jumped through and fell hundreds of feet down from the sky and onto a rooftop in Manhattan?"

"Precisely. Their resilient bodies prevented their fall from being fatal, but the impact still left them gravely injured. As much as I am not concerned about the welfare of demons, it was most beneficial that they were still alive to tell me what I needed to know. They told me everything they knew about you and your family at Fablehaven. But not why you're an angel."

Seth let out a sigh. "Well, I'm not entirely an angel. I'm angelkind, actually. I'm a human being with angel-related abilities."

"And how did that happen?" asked Ronodin.

"Why don't you tell me, Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Snort and Snout only told me that you were a shadow charmer whose darkness was only growing stronger and stronger thanks to Murdred himself, before you unexpectedly became angelkind. _How_ did you become angelkind?

"Because I have a heart!" snapped Seth. "As powerful as the dark magic that had been infused within me was, my heart and the love that I shared with my family caused an inversion. Something forced my body to evolve from shadow charmer to angelkind. But, it's only speculation. Nobody truly understands how exactly it happened."

"Interesting..." said Ronodin, whose eyes were fixated upon Seth.

"What about you? How did you abduct me from Fablehaven? For that matter, how did you even _get_ to Fablehaven?"

"How did _I_ get to Fablehaven? That was ridiculously easy! Dumb luck was involved, but it was still easy. You see, I never left Maddox's place when I _disappeared_. I hung around and eavesdropped. When it was time for your group to leave, Warren was kind enough to explain how the Translocator worked to Maddox. And me. He mentioned that everyone using Translocator needed to be touching it in order to travel. So I transformed myself into a fly and flew onto the Translocator, hitching a ride to Fablehaven in the process."

Seth was dumbstruck. "You came back to Fablehaven with us?"

"Indeed. It was quite the opportunity to finally come and visit. I'd been searching for the location of that preserve for years. You have quite an interesting home, Seth Sorenson. I must say, there were many interesting creatures at Fablehaven for me to check out."

"You didn't hurt them, did you?" snapped Seth. "What'd they ever do to you?"

"I didn't touch a single creature during my visit," said Ronodin. "I was intrigued, however. I admired them while keeping my distance. I must say, as interesting as some of those creatures and residents were, I had to settle for you. You see, because of the barrier that protects Fablehaven, if I were to leave, I would be unable to get back in."

"Thank _goodness_ for that."

"Out of all the inhabitants of Fablehaven, you remained the top prize in my eyes. Your sister Kendra showed great potential, but her fairy magic is just that. Fairy magic. It's nothing I can't already access. I wanted you. I waited hours for you to become an easy target. And as those hours passed, I perused the creatures that resided on the preserve. But in the end, I'm glad I chose you."

"You were unable to enter the house due to the treaty," said Seth. So you waited until I was an easy target before striking."

"Guilty," said Ronodin, raising a hand. "Of course, you were with Ingrid at the time, but she was easy enough to subdue. At least you weren't with _Bracken_. He would've been trouble. You know, it's funny. Everyone thought that Bracken was dead for ages. But no, he had apparently been in jail all that time. Bracken thinks he's so special just because he's a prince and one of the only male fairies to boot. Pompous punk! If you ask me, he should've rotted to death years ago!"

"Don't talk about Bracken like that!" blared Seth, slamming the palms of his hands against the bars of his cage. The impact hurt, but Seth was too distracted to care. "Bracken is a noble hero! Which is a lot more than I can say for you! Bracken is my friend! Bracken is awesome! You know he gave up his third horn to create the Font of Immortality, don't you?"

"The same Font of Immortality that the Sphinx used to prolong his life, so that he could live to open Zzyzx and unleash its demons upon world?" huffed Ronodin. "Wow! We seriously owe Bracken for allowing _that_ to happen!"

"The Font was necessary to keep Zzyzx sealed! It's not Bracken's fault that it got stolen and misused!"

"You know, Seth, I was highly tempted to deal with Bracken back when I had the chance. However, I was still more interested in you. I couldn't afford to give myself away by messing with Bracken now, could I?"

"You wouldn't be able to take on Bracken," said Seth.

"Perhaps you have a point," said Ronodin. "For a unicorn who allegedly gave up all three of his horns, he still exerted copious amounts of light energy. Probably just a perk of being an over-privileged royal unicorn. But I have all three of my horns in my possession, two of which have been corrupted by darkness. Bracken wouldn't stand a chance against me."


	11. Fallen Angel

**Chapter 11: Fallen Angel**

Seth continued to gaze through the bars at the figure who was standing before him. Now that he had gotten used to the fact that Jeremy Keenheart was actually Ronodin, the dark unicorn, Seth could see him for whom he really was. He hated to admit it, but Ronodin was unmistakably well-built and handsome. Dark or not, Ronodin really did possess the qualities of a proper unicorn.

"So you have me," said Seth. "Great. Just great. What are you going to even do with me now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Ronodin. "The angelic properties of your power are unparalleled! Show them to me at once."

"Right now? But..."

"You were powerful enough to defeat Murdred, the Demon God! If you could defeat him, there could be no known limit to your true potential!"

"I didn't do it alone!" muttered Seth. "My sister helped me, and you know it!"

"A mere technicality. Either way, I'm not asking for you to destroy the God of Demons. I just want for you to display your angelic form so that I may see it for myself."

"I can't just... _unleash_ my powers! It doesn't work that way. Even if I wanted them to."

"Then what _will_ trigger them?" huffed Ronodin.

"There has to be a reason for me to do so. And you abducting and forcing me to show them off for you might not be a very good reason now, would it?"

"Seth, listen to me. Fairies in this world are in serious danger. Demon are running around unregulated, and there's very little that anyone can do to stop them. But that's where you come in."

"Look, the other knights and I have been making an effort to do something about all this."

"And what good has it done? You've only gotten to the scenes of the crimes long after they've already occurred! The fairies that were at Maddox's place. They're all dead! Oh sure, you _tried_ to help them. But by the time help arrives, the damage is done and the demons have moved on."

"Look, if we had found the demons, we would've dealt with them," stated Seth.

"Oh, I know you would've. I mean after all, if you could bring down Murdred and the entire demon homeworld, then surely dealing with a couple of rogue demons would be a breeze. But wait, you guys can't so much as find them."

"Well you're the one who's a demon tracker. Maybe if you had agreed to work with my group in the first place, instead of quarreling and betraying us..."

"Trying to track down every last demon on this planet would take way too long. Months. Maybe even years. But I've been working on something. Something that would deal with every last demon in the entire world in a much faster method. One that would eradicate the demons in an instant. Only problem is, it requires an enormous amount of continuous light energy. And your angelic powers, if truly awakened, might be just the sort of thing that I'm looking for."

"You want to use my power to wipe out every single demon on Earth?" asked Seth.

Ronodin nodded. "Precisely."

"Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how _dangerous_ that could be? And you want to kill every demon in existence? Even if they haven't caused anyone any grief?"

"Any demon would be a potential menace. They have no place in our world. I won't take the chance of giving any of them the benefit of the doubt."

"I can't do this," said Seth. "I can't agree to this whole demonic genocide!"

"I can tell that you are being difficult," said Ronodin. "But I can't pass up an opportunity such as this. Very well, Seth. If you won't share your power with me, I will have to take it by force!"

Ronodin held his hands out towards the bars of the cage, and they proceeded to emit a bluish glow. Suddenly a transparent beam of light shot out of Ronodin's hands and flew through the bars of the cell, making contact with Seth.

Seth sidestepped back and forth through the diminutive cell that he was in. But there was nowhere for him to hide. With every movement that he made, Ronodin's energy beam followed. The bars of the cell, at best, were only able to partially block the beam.

The beam itself left Seth with a mild, tingly feeling. Beyond that, it felt relatively harmless.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Seth, who found that he had no way of truly evading the blue energy beam.

"I'm trying to extract your power," said Ronodin. "If you're not willing to put your power to good use, then I _will_."

"You can't!" exclaimed Seth. "What kind of unicorn are you, anyway?"

"I'm more than a unicorn, Seth. I've dabbled in the art of wizardry and spell-casting. I actually consider myself to be a warlock."

"I don't care what you are!" exclaimed Seth. "You can't take my power! You just can't!'"

Ronodin brought the energy beam to a halt, then lowered his hands. "Perhaps you are correct, Seth. It would appear that I am unable to withdraw the angelic energies that dwell within you from your own body."

"Uh, why?" asked Seth, who felt unsure if he was going to regret asking that question.

"I don't know. It would seem that there's more to your power than I initially thought. Perhaps you need to assume your angel form first, in order for me to properly extract its power."

Seth stared at Ronodin. He could sense that there was a sheer degree of determination glistening in his eyes. Did he not know when he had gone too far?

"Did you not hear me?" asked Ronodin. "Don't just stand there like an imbecile! Assume your angel form. Now."

"Hold on," said Seth. "I can't just _become_ an angel right on the spot. There has to be a need for it. Or at least some support."

"What kind of support?

"Love would work. But I can see that there's not a whole lot of it coming from _you_."

Ronodin snorted. "Anything _else_?"

"Light energy. Not that you'd be capable of exerting too much of it."

"Light energy? Is that really all it takes? I can provide you with that."

Seth stopped to think for a moment. If Ronodin really _could_ force him into assuming his angel form, it might actually be beneficial to Seth. As an angel, Seth could potentially have the power to not only subdue Ronodin, but he could also free himself from the cage and escape from wherever this place even was.

Of course, there was also the chance that Ronodin could possibly restrain Seth, even as an angel. If that were the case, then not only would Seth's plan to escape have been in vain, but Ronodin would have access to his enhanced form. If only he had a better understand as to how his powers truly worked! Alas, this was going to be a risk that Seth would have to take.

"It's true," said Seth. "If my body absorbs enough light energy, it'll cause me to assume my angel form. Only, it's hard to say how reliable this whole thing really is."

"It's worth a shot," said Ronodin. "Let's see if you're up to the challenge."

Ronodin held out his hands again, and proceeded to blast another beam of blue energy through the bars of the cage and at Seth. Unlike the first beam that Ronodin had exerted upon him, this beam felt rather soothing.

"Come on," said Ronodin, as he continued directing energy through his hands towards Seth. "How long is this supposed to even take?"

"I don't know!" muttered Seth. "It's never been done this way before! I always need help from others. Others who care about me. Others who don't force raw light energy onto me the way you're doing."

Ronodin ceased exerting his power upon Seth. "This isn't working."

"I'm not surprised," said Seth, who admittedly did not feel any stronger. I have no want or reason to become an angel. I certainly don't want to do it just to impress you."

"You became an angel to defeat Murdred. Maybe you just need to be put in a similar situation again."

"What do you mean?" asked Seth, as a large, golden staff suddenly appeared in Ronodin's hand. Thick and over two feet long, with points at both ends, Ronodin kept a firm grip on the staff.

"What is that thing?" asked Seth.

"This staff? _This_ is what I combined my first two horns into. Both of my corrupted horns have been embedded into this staff. It is a tool of darkness."

" _That's_ what's corrupting you?" asked Seth. "You have to get rid of that thing!"

"I couldn't do that if I wanted to," said Ronodin. "Behold!"

Ronodin shot a beam of black energy from the tip of his staff, aiming it at the ground in front of the cage. Suddenly, a monstrous figure appeared outside the cage. Bipedal, the monster sported oily, reddish skin, spikes all over its body and tail, glowing yellow eyes, and a single, large horn atop its head.

"What is that thing?" asked Seth, as the monster turned back to face Ronodin and raised its claws upward.

"Foul creature!" snapped Ronodin, as he turned the staff upside-down in his hands. "Obey me!"

Ronodin shot another beam of darkness at the creature. It immediately stopped moving.

"Good. Turn around and face that boy in the cage. Threaten him. Scare him!"

"Uh, Ronodin," said Seth, as the creature turned to face him, then raised its claws up into the air and opened its mouth. "Take it easy."

"Assume your angel form. Do it, so you can deal with this demon."

Seth backed away from the bars, through which the demon was unable to reach at him.

"What are you trying to pull?" asked Seth, as the demon stuck a claw through the bars. However, its arms were not long enough to reach him. "If that demon kills me, you can kiss my angel powers goodbye!"

"I never told him to kill you," said Ronodin. "Just to scare you."

"If I know that I'm not in danger, I won't be able to become an angel," said Seth. "There has to be a need for it. And I don't need it if the whole thing with this demon is staged."

Ronodin grunted, then aimed his staff at the demon and shot another blast of darkness at it. It then vanished in a flash of blackness, akin to how it had initially appeared.

"Where did that demon even come from?"

"He's is one of many whom I have gained control over. With my staff, I have the power to summon him, as well as many other demons, whenever I want."

Seth took in a deep breath. "Ronodin... why are you doing all this? I know you want to cleanse the world of all its remaining demons, but is this really the way? You've resorted to dishonesty and deception just to come this far! You uprooted me from my own home unwillingly! And my folks are worried sick..."

A thought suddenly popped into Seth's head. His family! Surely they would start to worry about him once he never came back to the house. Since they would be unable to reach him by phone, Kendra could inevitably use the Oculus to locate him. There was hope for him yet. Provided that they could deal with Ronodin, however.

"Yes, yes," said Ronodin. "Your folks will be worried. But it will be worth it. Regrettably, going through all this trouble was the only surefire way to ensure that everything would unfold according to plan. Had I been honest upfront and asked you if whether you would be willing to volunteer or not, you would've surely said no. Plus, your entire group would find out and probably would've launched a huge campaign to stop me. But now that I have you where I want you, all I need to do now is to exploit your power. If only you would **give... it... to... me**!"

As Ronodin raised his voice, both of his hands started to emit a brilliant blue glow.

"I can't give it to you!" exclaimed Seth. "And you wouldn't hurt me! You wouldn't hurt an angel!"

"Angel! If you won't become an angel on your own, I'll force you into becoming one myself!"

Ronodin thrust his hands forward, aiming them directly at Seth. The blue energy that they were giving off shot out of the unicorn's wrists and collided with Seth, causing him to experience a strange sensation.

"Become an angel!" huffed Ronodin. "NOW!"

Suddenly, Seth felt as his body started to shrink. His legs both retracted, while his fingers disappeared into his hands. His nose seemed to merge with his mouth, as his entire posture bent in on itself. After a few seconds, the process stopped.

Seth was now fairly small. His body felt radically different. He certainly wasn't an angel. Raising an arm up in front of his head, he saw that instead of an arm, he now sported a feathery wing.

"A dove?" gasped Ronodin, whose voice was now a lot louder to Seth on account of his reduced size. "I wanted an angel!"

Seth attempted to speak, but could only make a cawing sound. However, looking at the bars of his cage, he realized that he was now small enough to slip through them. Without a second thought, Seth scurried through the bars and was out of the cage. He then raised his wings and proceeded to flap them, allowing himself to rise up into the air.

Seth was thankful for the flying lessons that Hope and Air Flair had given him upon becoming an angel. Even though the wings were in place of his arms, rather than additional limbs on his back, the same general rules of flight still applied.

"Get back here!" exclaimed Ronodin, after Seth had only flown a few feet away. He proceeded to hit Seth with another blast of blue energy.

Upon contact, the energy had caused Seth to stop moving in midair. Seth flapped his wings as frantically as he could, but it was futile, as an invisible force pulled him backwards through the air, then through the bars and back into the cell. Once he was on the floor of the cell, Ronodin blasted Seth with more energy, which caused him to grow back into his human form.

Still kneeling on the ground, Seth clenched the bars of the cell and glared up at Ronodin. "You think this is funny? Dark or not, you unicorns and fairies all love your stupid pranks!"

"That _wasn't s_ upposed to happen!" grumbled Ronodin. "I tried to make you an angel by force. And either your body rejected my power, or as much as I hate to admit it, I simply am not powerful enough."

"So now what do we do?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure. I'm starting to regret not transporting Ingrid along with you. As much I wouldn't want to put you in danger, someone like her would be far more expendable. Yes, just forcing you to watch me place her in peril... perhaps _that_ would be enough to trigger your angel form."

"You said earlier that you wouldn't hurt her!"

"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't. I have nothing against her on a personal level. However, if she is standing between me and my goals, I'll do whatever must be done to achieve them."

"Well, at least _you_ can't get back into Fablehaven, you monster!" exclaimed Seth.

Ronodin lowered his head. "It feels like such a wasted opportunity. Not even an hour ago, I was free to roam the coveted Fablehaven preserve. The creatures that resided there were mine for the taking. I could've made off with almost any one that I wanted. And which one do I ultimately pick? The good-for-nothing angelkind brat who turns out to be completely useless to me!"

"Maybe it's best if I am useless.. At least that way, you're unable to exploit my power."

"There was a pegasus!" growled Ronodin. A real, live pegasus residing on at Fablehaven! Along with a unicorn! And plenty of perfectly good fairies. If only I could get back to Fablehaven, I'd rectify my mistake in a heartbeat."

"Well, I don't have the Translocator on me," said Seth. "So you can forget going back to Fablehaven anytime soon."

"Unfortunately. However, I'm not going to give up on you. Not just yet."

"You're not giving up?" asked Seth. "Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get some... _assistance_. Although it was one thing to reach Fablehaven, getting back to where I was supposed to be is another matter entirely."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to leave for a little while," said Ronodin. "And I don't need you tagging along. So you're going to stay right here in that cell."

"You're leaving me here?" asked Seth. "For how long?"

"However long it takes. Here. Have some food in case I'm not back for a while."

Ronodin shot some blue energy at the ground next to Seth. A plate full of assorted fruit suddenly materialized where the energy had hit the ground.

If nothing else, Seth was getting a break. Ronodin would be gone for a bit, and he had left him with a plate full of fruit, so he at least had something to eat.

"And so you don't try anything funny, someone's going to stay here and keep you company," said Ronodin, as his staff reappeared in his hand. He shot a blast of black energy at the ground in front of the cage. In a flash of darkness, the same red demon from earlier suddenly reappeared in front of the cage.

"Easy," said Ronodin, as he shot another blast of darkness from his staff at the demon. "You are _not_ to hurt this boy. You are to keep an eye on him. Make sure he does not leave this cage."

The demon nodded.

"He may attempt to become an angel. He may even succeed. In which case, we better not take any chances."

Ronodin's staff suddenly disappeared. He then exerted more blue energy from his hands at Seth, which made him feel all woozy.

"Hey..." said Seth. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, Seth. But I can't have you pulling any stunts while I'm gone, now, can I?"

Overcome with a wave of tiredness, Seth collapsed to the floor. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but it was no use. Within seconds, he had fallen fast asleep.


	12. Searching

**Chapter 12: Searching**

Kendra proceeded to press the power button on the remote control, shutting off the television set that sat upon Seth's dresser, which faced the foot of his bed. As she had been alone for much of the evening, Kendra found herself drawn to the television in Seth's bedroom, where she ended up watching several episodes of her favorite shows. However, upon looking out the window after her last show had ended, Kendra saw that it was now dark out.

Kendra got off of her brother's bed and left his room. She then made her way downstairs, where the older members of her family were all sitting together in her living room.

"Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson, "do you know where Seth and Ingrid are?"

Kendra shook her head. "I thought they went for a walk. But that was right after dinner, wasn't it?"

"I thought they were upstairs watching TV with you," said Mr. Sorenson.

Kendra shook her head.

"Then where are they?" asked Dale.

"Yeah," added Grandpa. "I haven't seen nor heard from them since dinner."

"Maybe they're just up in the attic," said Warren. "I'll go up and check."

Warren got up from his seat, then made his way upstairs to the second floor. Kendra listened as Warren's footsteps made their way across the upstairs hallway, only for them to grow fainter as he made his way up the next flight of stairs leading to the attic. Several seconds later, Warren's footsteps made their way back across the second floor, followed by him returning down the stairs to the front hall.

"They're not there," said Warren, shaking his head as he walked into the living room.

"It's getting late," said Mr. Sorenson. "I sure hope they're okay."

"I know they wouldn't leave the preserve without telling us," said Dale. "But they should be safe, so long as they stick to the designated areas. Of course, knowing Seth..."

"I'm going to nip this whole thing in the bud," said Mr. Sorenson, as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'm calling Seth right now. Marla, you call Ingrid."

Kendra watched as her parents each proceeded to call Seth and Ingrid using the speed dial functions on their phones. They then held their phones up to their ears and listened to the ringing that was coming from the other line.

At roughly the same moment, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson both frowned as they disconnected from their calls and placed their phones down on the coffee table.

"No answer," huffed Mr. Sorenson.

"Same with Ingrid," said Mrs. Sorenson, as she let out a sigh. "This is not good."

"We don't even know where they are," said Dale.

"The Oculus!" exclaimed Kendra. "I can use it to find where they went!"

"Of course," said Grandpa. "Dale, do you mind fetching the Oculus for us?"

"I'm on it," said Dale, who had already gotten out of his seat and was making his way to the stairs. He then scurried up the stairs to the second floor and ran around for a moment. About a minute later, Dale came back down the stairs into the living room, holding the Oculus in his hand.

"Here it is," said Dale, as he set the Oculus down on the coffee table in front of Kendra.

Before Kendra could so much as reach down and pick up the Oculus in her hand, there was a knocking sound coming from the front door.

"Hold it, Kendra," said Mr. Sorenson. "Maybe that's them."

"Strange," said Grandma, as she got up from her seat. "They have house keys. Why would they be knocking?"

Kendra got up and followed Grandma out of the living room, then over to front door. When Grandma opened it, she saw Doren standing on the other side.

"Doren?" asked Grandma, as Kendra and the other family members all surrounded her. "What is it?"

Doren looked up at the family, a distraught look etched upon his face. "It's Ingrid! She's sleeping on the ground and she won't take up!"

"She's _what_?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "She's not _dead_ , is she?"

"No. She's breathing, at least."

"Where's Seth?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"I don't know," said Doren, shrugging. "Newel and I just found her lying on the ground."

"Doren, what's going on?" asked Bracken, who was standing at the front of the porch. "Is Ingrid okay?"

Doren shook his head.

"This isn't good," said Dale. "Doren, please take us to Ingrid."

"Okay," said the satyr. "She's not that far from here, actually."

Doren trotted across the lawn, until he reached a dirt path that bordered the end of it. The entire group followed him onto the dirt path, which led into the woods, twisting and turning past a few trees and small hills. As they left the property, the family found themselves being followed by several reindeer.

After having traveled no more than a minute's distance from the house, Doren stopped in front of Ingrid, who was indeed lying unconsciously on the ground with Newel standing next to her.

"Ingrid!" gasped Mrs. Sorenson, as Kendra scurried up to her sister, kneeled down by her side and shook her shoulder.

"That's not going to work," said Newel, shaking his head. "We've tried everything, but nothing will wake her."

"You two wouldn't know how Ingrid wound up here in the first place, would you?" asked Dale.

"Nuh-uh," replied Doren.

"Sorry," said Newel.

"Let me check her out," said Bracken, as he kneeled down next to Kendra, then placed his hand upon Ingrid's forehead. A moment later, a surprised look manifested itself upon Bracken's face.

"Bracken, what is it?" asked Kendra.

"There's been some sort of enchantment that's been placed upon Ingrid," said Bracken. "It's what's caused her to fall asleep in the first place."

"Who could've done such a thing?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"From what I can sense, the only real suspect around here would have to be a large number of fairies. But I've been with the fairies ever since we got back from Maddox's place. So I don't know what could've caused this. Fortunately, I have the power in me to remove it."

Bracken lowered his head down towards Ingrid, lining up his own face in front of hers. He then moved his mouth forward and pressed his lips against Ingrid's cheek. As Bracken backed away from Ingrid, she slowly started to move her body around, then opened her eyes.

"Ingrid!" exclaimed Kendra. "You're all right!"

"Oh, thank god!" said Mr. Sorenson.

Ingrid yawned as she got herself up and into a sitting position. "What's going on?" she asked wearily. "Where's Seth?"

"We were hoping _you_ might know," said Warren.

"I don't know what happened. Seth and I were just walking down this path together, when I suddenly felt really tired for some odd reason."

Someone or some _thing_ got you with a sleeping curse," said Bracken. "But I dispelled it."

"When did you guys find Ingrid?" asked Dale, who was facing Newel and Doren.

"Just a few minutes ago," replied Newel. "We suspected that Verl had stolen some of our batteries, so we were on our way to pay him a little visit."

"But before we could deal with him, we saw Ingrid just... lying here," said Doren.

"We can't thank you enough," said Grandpa. "If there's anything we can do for you..."

"We could use a new mini fridge," said Newel.

"As long as we're asking for a fridge, why does it have to be mini-sized?" asked Doren. "We've got the space for a large one."

"And think of what might've happened if _Verl_ had been the one to find her," noted Newel, winking at Doren.

"We'll look into getting a fridge for you guys," said Grandpa. "Once we get this other problem settled, that is."

"The kind that makes ice would be lovely," said Newel.

"We're grateful for your help," said Grandma. "Had the wrong creature found Ingrid..."

"Let's just be thankful she's still in one piece," said Bracken. Question is, we still don't know what happened to Seth."

"Then let's get back to the house so that I can look for him right now," said Kendra.

"No need for that," said Warren, as he held out the Oculus. "I thought you could use this."

Kendra nodded as she accepted the Oculus from Warren. "Okay. Let's do this."

Kendra then clenched the Oculus firmly in both of her hands and closed her eyes. In her mind, Kendra envisioned her brother. For a moment, Kendra was starting to worry. What if she had no way of detecting him? He couldn't be in the Demon Domain, but the haunting memory of not being able to locate Seth still lingered in Kendra's heart.

Kendra breathed a sigh of relief as Seth's body came into view. He appeared to be sleeping on the floor of a small cave, with his head resting upon a pillow.

"I see him!" said Kendra. "He's sleeping in a cave somewhere."

"Sleeping?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"What cave?" asked Grandpa.

"I'll check," said Kendra, as she backed her view away from Seth, passing through the bars of his cell. She then noticed the red, monstrous creature that had been assigned with the task of guarding him. "There's someone with Seth!"

"Who?" asked Grandma.

"I dunno. It's a monster, no doubt. But not one that I recognize."

"Can you describe it?" asked Dale.

"It's some kind of red monster, covered in spikes. About seven feet tall. I don't recall seeing this thing ever before, though it's likely a demon of some nature. It would probably be right at home in the Demon Domain."

"You said Seth was sleeping, right?" asked Grandpa.

"Yeah," replied Kendra. "Probably under the same effect that Ingrid was. I think it's safe to assume that whatever got Ingrid got to Seth as well."

"But why's Seth in some cave?" asked Ingrid. "I didn't get taken away."

"I'm gonna see where this cave actually is."

Still seeing through the power of the Oculus, Kendra backed away from the demon, twisting and turning through the cave, until she eventually emerged outside, apparently on a clifftop somewhere in the countryside. Not being able to recognize the area, Kendra shifted her position up into the sky, while looking down at the cave below. She rose higher and higher into the sky, until she could see the greater portion of New England beneath her. From what she could tell, the cave was west of Fablehaven a fair bit, presumably in New York somewhere.

"I got it," said Kendra. "The cave is somewhere to the west of here. Roughly a couple dozen miles or so.

"Just hold on a second..." said Warren. "Getting it ready... Okay, now. Try to keep that image in your mind. Now, open your eyes, Kendra."

Kendra loosened her grasp on the Oculus, then slowly opened her eyes, allowing her view to shift from being high up in the sky and back to within the confines of her own eyeballs.

Warren presented his tablet to Kendra, on the screen of which was a map of New England. Accepting the tablet from Warren, Kendra clicked on the spot where she had located Seth, then zoomed to a certain degree.

"I think he's somewhere around these parts," said Kendra. "I don't want to zoom in too far, in case I'm wrong."

"Place a marker on the general area, at least," said Ingrid. "It's better than nothing."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she set a marker icon on the spot that best resembled what she had seen through the Oculus.

"There's still miles of land that this encompasses," said Kendra. "I still don't see how we can find him like this."

"I've got an idea," said Warren, as he accepted his tablet back from Kendra. "Let's set out to this spot that your marked. But we'll take the Oculus with us. That way, you can use it to check in on Seth from our new location and determine where he is in comparison to ourselves."

"Sounds good," said Grandpa.

"We'd better get going," said Ingrid. "Come on. Let's go meet up with the dragons."

"Sounds like somebody has recovered," said Dale, flashing a content smile.

After the group gathered their gear from the house, everyone then made their way back along the path to the main yard, and soon arrived at the entrance to the dragons' lair.

Warren whistled as he poked his head into the lair. "Dragons. We need your help!"

"What's wrong?" asked Raxtus, as he waddled his way out towards the entrance of his lair, while Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall followed behind him.

"They haven't heard," said Grandma.

"Heard what?" asked Firesquall.

The group went on to explain to the dragons how Ingrid and Seth had both gone missing, how Newel and Doren had found Ingrid asleep, and how Kendra had located Seth using the Oculus.

"So we really need you guys to fly us over to where Seth is," said Warren.

"Poor Seth," said Skyfrost. "How did this whole thing even happen?"

"We don't know," said Grandpa. "But the sooner Seth can be rescued, the better."

"As much as I want Seth back," said Mrs. Sorenson, "I have to wonder. What if this whole thing is a trap? We don't know who's responsible for Seth's kidnapping or why."

"How would they know we're coming?" asked Kendra. "Unless they can sense us. Hardly anyone even knows about the Oculus' existence."

"Whoever did this must have some insight as to who we are," said Grandma. "They somehow managed to sneak into Fablehaven and abduct Seth the way they did. While this could very well be a trap, it might very well be Seth's only chance at getting rescued."

"I don't care what's protecting Seth," said Skyfrost. "Kendra said that all she saw through the Oculus was one single monster guarding Seth. I'm not afraid of him!"

"We still don't know what that monster is capable of," said Bracken. "We'll go. But everyone, be on your guard."

Kendra proceeded to climb up onto Raxtus' back, while Ingrid and Warren got onto Geminus and Firesquall.

"Mind if I go with you?" asked Bracken, as he seated himself upon Skyfrost's back.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Warren.

The other riders and the dragons all responded positively.

"Good. Let's fly!"

Skyfrost and Firesquall both darted out of the cave, and flew up into the sky.

"Will someone keep an eye on Vanessa for us?" asked Geminus.

"I'm on it," said Dale, who walked into the cave.

"Thank you!" said Raxtus, as he and Geminus both ran out of the cave and took off into the air flying up towards the spot where the wyverns were floating around.

"Okay," said Warren, looking over the map screen on his tablet. "We want to go... _that_ way!"

Warren pointed off towards the west, prompting the dragons to fly in the aforementioned direction. As they flew across the preserve, Skyfrost proceeded to soar ahead of the others.

"Skyfrost, slow down!" exclaimed Bracken. "I know you're eager to reach Seth, but we need to do it as a team!"

Skyfrost slowed down, allowing the other dragons to catch up and fly alongside him at the same pace. The dragons continued flying for a good half an hour or so, when Warren proceeded to glance at his tablet.

"Hold it!" exclaimed Warren, prompting the dragons to stop in mid-flight, keeping their balance in the air by gently flapping their wings. "Kendra, try using the Oculus again, right here."

"Okay," said Kendra, as she removed the Oculus from her bag. Clasping it in her hands, she envisioned the entrance to the cave where Seth was being held. A moment later, the cave came into view. She then backed away from the entrance, rising up into the sky once again. At this point, Kendra allowed her perspective to return to normal, ending her use of the Oculus.

"I've zoomed in a bit more this time," said Warren, as Firesquall veered up towards Kendra and Raxtus. "I'll join you if you don't mind."

Warren proceeded to stand up on Firesquall's back. He then jumped off the wyvern and onto Raxtus, landing behind Kendra. For a moment, Kendra was worried that Warren would miss his target and go plummeting downwards, but her cousin seemed to land on the fairy dragon with perfect finesse.

"Now," said Warren, who had seated himself behind Kendra, placing a hand upon her shoulder, then passing his tablet to her with his other hand, "We're at the spot you initially marked. Where is Seth from here now?"

Kendra glanced at the tablet again. She saw that the location of the cave was did not quite line up with the marker of their current position.

"I can see where I went wrong," said Kendra, placing a second marker on the location of the cave.

"Nobody said this would be easy," said Ingrid.

"It's a bit northwest of where we are now," said Warren. "But only by a few miles. Let's go."

The dragons flew on towards the northwest. After only a few minutes, Warren consulted his tablet again.

"Stop!" exclaimed Warren, prompting the dragons to stop again. "We're at the spot. "Kendra. Can you use the Oculus again?"

"Okay," said Kendra. Once again, she envisioned the entrance to the cave, then shifted her orientation around to view it from the sky. Once her view had risen high enough, Kendra noticed some figures not too far from where the cave actually was.

"Hold on," said Kendra, as she zoomed in towards the figures she had seen. Once they were close enough to properly make out, Kendra could see that the figures were in fact the group themselves. She could even see herself, sitting on Raxtus' back with Warren behind her. She was holding onto the Oculus, her eyes presently closed.

"I can see us," said Kendra, as she opened her eyes. "That was kinda weird. But the good news is, we're very close to the cave."

"Where is it, then?" asked Raxtus.

Kendra pointed down towards the ground. "Right down... there!"


	13. Highs and Lows

**Chapter 13: Highs and Lows**

Having received their directions from Kendra, Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall all proceeded to dive down through the clouds that had been drifting beneath them. Upon passing through the clouds, the dragons sped down towards the ground of the countryside.

As they neared the ground, the dragons slowed their descent. By the time they were no more than thirty feet above the surface of the Earth, they had all come to a stop, slowly flapping their wings to keep afloat in one spot.

"So, where exactly is the cave from here?" asked Firesquall, as he and the other dragons all glanced around in various directions.

Kendra took a look at the surroundings for herself. There were numerous grassy hills and cliff side walls in just about every direction. Beneath the group was a forest of trees, the tops of which were only mere feet away from the dragons' own bodies.

As Kendra gazed off in one direction, she spotted a cliff that looked all too familiar. Studying it for a moment, Kendra noticed an alcove within the cliff. She wasn't entirely sure, but Kendra come to the conclusion that it might just very well be the same cliff that she had seen through the Oculus.

"I think I see it!" said Kendra, pointing towards the cliff. "This way!"

"I hope you're right," said Ingrid, as the dragons all soared over towards the cliff, which was roughly one-hundred feet from their current position. Once they reached the cliff, the dragons all came in for a landing on a small ledge that sat outside the entrance to the cave.

"So this is the place?" asked Warren, as he climbed down off of Raxtus.

"It looks like it," said Kendra, climbing off of Raxtus after Warren. "Even if it is is kind of nondescript."

"Kendra, what did you say was in this cave again?" asked Skyfrost.

"I'm not sure. But it was big, red, and covered in spikes."

"Hah!" said Firesquall. "Whatever it is, he'll be sorry once we get our claws on him!"

"Either way, we should still be on full alert," said Bracken. "We don't know what this thing is capable of, or what exactly it even is."

The group made their way into the cave. Small and narrow, the cave itself ultimately proved to be more of a tunnel. Had they been much larger, the dragons would've been too big to so much as even fit in the cave.

The cave led the group down several small twists and turns, which led them deeper into the earth. After sloping downwards a short bit, the cave brought the group into a small cavern.

Surely enough, standing at the far end of the cavern, in front of a wall of iron bars, was the same red monster that Kendra had seen through the Oculus. Having detected the group's presence, the monster snarled in their direction, revealing a set of jagged teeth, then raised its claws upward.

"All right," said Warren, as he pulled out his sword and flailed it around. "What's all this about, you?"

The monsters growled at Warren. As it took a step forward, Kendra was quick to notice Seth, who was currently asleep on the floor behind the bars.

"I don't think it speaks English," said Bracken. "Or any language we're capable of understanding."

"I don't want to attack it. At the very least, I'd like to know what exactly it is and why it abducted Seth."

"Be careful," said Geminus, as Warren slowly approached the monster. As Warren neared it, the monster held back its arms, then suddenly swung them forward, unleashing a barrage of spikes directly at Warren. Warren held up his own arms in an attempt to shield himself from the spikes, only for his arms and upper body to get impaled by several of them.

"WARREN!" exclaimed both Kendra and Ingrid.

"You stupid thing!" snapped Firesquall. "Take this!"

Firesquall charged forward, unleashing a blast of fire directly towards the monster. While the monster was distracted, Warren backed away from the action. Kendra could see that about a dozen spikes had been impaled across Warren's arms and upper torso, streaks of blood dripping down each of them.

"Are you okay?," said Geminus.

"I've had worse," groaned Warren, trying to cope with the pain.

"We'll heal you right away," said Raxtus.

"Not yet. We need to extract the spikes first."

Meanwhile, the monster retaliated by thrusting more spikes towards Firesquall, who too got nicked by several of them.

"There's no reasoning with this thing!" said Skyfrost.

"That may be the case," said Bracken. "I'm certainly sensing darkness radiating from this... creature."

"We have to get past it to reach Seth!" said Ingrid, as the monster shot more spikes towards the group. However, Geminus was fast enough to conjure up a protective barrier around the group, which stopped the spikes in midair.

"I can't keep this thing up forever," said Geminus.

"Just wait until it runs out of spikes," said Warren.

"It doesn't look like its lost any," said Skyfrost. "Yet it's shot like fifty at us!"

"That does it," said Kendra, as she drew Vasilis from her sheath. "Time to stop playing patty-cake. Take this!"

Holding the sword with the tip facing forward, Kendra swung her arm back and thrust Vasilis forward. As if the sword had a mind of its own, it flew directly towards the monster stabbed it right in its chest. Suddenly, the monster blew up in a flash of colorful light, leaving behind no remnants of its body. With the monster gone, Vasilis flew back towards Kendra and returned itself into her hand.

"Well, that was easy," said Ingrid.

"But we didn't learn anything," said Warren.

"You're a mess," said Bracken, as he waved his hand at Warren, allowing colorful sparkles to flow towards his body. Kendra watched as the various spikes that were lodged into Warren's body all faded away, leaving bloody holes in Warren's clothing and bare skin.

"Thanks," said Warren, pulling out the Sands of Sanctity from his bag as Bracken then proceeded to do the same thing to Firesquall. Warren then poured the Sands of Sanctity onto himself, instantly healing up his wounds, then used the artifact on Firesquall.

"Seth!" said Ingrid, who had run up to the cage that Seth was behind, seemingly still fast asleep, with his head resting upon a pillow. Kendra and the others all followed her.

"Seth, wake up!" exclaimed Skyfrost.

"He won't wake up," said Bracken. "He's under some sort of magic spell. He needs my help."

"Then let's get rid of these bars, Skyfrost," said Firesquall.

"Stand back!" shouted Firesquall, as he proceeded to blast several of the bars with a stream of fire. Firesquall made his flame glow brighter and brighter, until it became light blue. A moment later, when he ceased blasting his fire, the iron bars were left glowing orange.

"My turn" said Skyfrost, as he exhaled an icy mist at the glowing bars, coating them in a layer of solid ice. He then swung his tail towards the frozen bars, shattering them with ease.

"Good," said Bracken. "The less power I waste getting to Seth, the better."

Bracken entered the cell and bent down next to Seth.

"Are you going to kiss him?" asked Ingrid.

"Kissing _would_ probably be more effective," said Bracken. "But I'll try another method."

Both of Bracken's hands started to emit a white glow, as he placed them upon Seth's cheeks. Everyone watched as Seth slowly started to shake his head, prompting Bracken to remove his hands.

Feeling incredibly woozy, Seth opened up his eyes. He was startled to see the rest of his usual entourage suddenly crowding around him.

"What's going on?" groaned Seth, as he sat up, unable to comprehend why everyone else was now in the same place as he was.

"You were struck in this cage, fast asleep," said Skyfrost.

"We rescued you," said Firesquall.

"What were you doing in this place?" asked Bracken. "Do you know how you got here?"

"I know who did this!" blurted Seth. "It was Jeremy! Only he's not who you think he is!"

"Jeremy," said Warren. "But... how?"

"There's a few things about _Jeremy_ that you all need to know. He's not a wizard, a dragon, or anything like that. He's Ronodin, the dark unicorn."

Bracken's jaw dropped in awe. "You're kidding me, right Seth?"

"This isn't a drill!" exclaimed Seth. "I was going for a walk with Ingrid back at Fablehaven, when all of a sudden I fell asleep and ended up here. With me was Jeremy, who told me the truth about himself."

Bracken was breathing heavily. "This is deep. Where is Jeremy, I mean Ronodin, right now?"

"I don't know. He had to go somewhere, so he put me to sleep again and left some weird monster to guard me."

"We... _dealt_ with him," said Warren, nodding at Kendra.

"What if he comes back?" asked Ingrid.

"He will," said Seth. "Can we _please_ get out of here?"

"Got it," said Warren, as he reached into his bag and pulled out the Translocator.

"Hold it!" cried Seth. "The Translocator is exactly how Ronodin got into Fablehaven in the first place."

"What do you mean?" asked Raxtus.

"Back when we were at Maddox's. Ronodin didn't leave when we thought he did! He just hid himself. Then when it was time for us to leave, he hitched a ride back to Fablehaven on the Chronometer by turning into a fly."

Warren sighed. "That _was_ clever."

"You're saying Ronodin could be here, spying on us?" asked Kendra.

"I'll try to sense him," said Bracken. "Raxtus and Geminus, help me."

Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all placed their together, then closed their eyes.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Ingrid.

"We're trying to detect any unfamiliar readings of light or dark energy," said Bracken. "I can't sense anything, so hopefully that means Ronodin really is gone."

"I don't think he was expecting you guys to show up," said Seth. "He doesn't entirely know about the Oculus. At least, I think he doesn't."

"That's what we were banking on," said Warren. "All right then. All of you, make sure you're touching this thing so we can all get out of here."

Once everyone was making contact with the Translocator, Warren twisted it, hurling them all out of the cave, through space, and back to the yard at Fablehaven.

"Now then," said Warren, as everyone else released their hold on the Translocator and he placed it back into his bag, "let's get inside so that Seth can tell us everything he knows about Ronodin."

"Hold on a minute," said Skyfrost. "What about us?"

"We're interested in hearing about Ronodin, too!"

"Relax, boys," said Geminus. "We mustn't overwhelm them. We'll hear about Ronodin soon enough."

Skyfrost and Firesquall both moaned, as the rest of the group made their way back into the house.

"Seth!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson, as she entered the foyer. "You're all right!"

"We need to talk," said Seth. "Right away!"

Seth, Kendra, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all sat down in the living room, and were soon joined by Grandpa, Grandma, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson and Dale.

"We're all ears, Seth," said Grandpa. "Please. Tell us how you wound up in that cave."

"It was Jeremy," said Seth, as he went on to explain about how the so-called demon tracker whom they met at Maddox's place was actually Ronodin, the dark unicorn. He then told the family about how Ronodin abducted him purely to exploit his angelic powers, only to fail in the end.

"This sounds awful," said Grandma. "Bracken, what do you know about this Ronodin character?"

"Well, I never knew him on a personal level," said Bracken. "He kept a low profile, at least until he corrupted his horns. When word got out that it happened, Ronodin essentially fell off the face of the Earth. Nobody knew what happened to him."

"Why would a unicorn corrupt his horns like that?" asked Ingrid.

"I honestly don't have any idea..." said Bracken, as Seth held up his hand, prompting him to stop.

"Ronodin told me why," said Seth. "He said that he corrupted his first two horns on purpose so that he could take control over demons. The reason there was a demon guarding me was because Ronodin summoned him there for that very purpose."

"Seth, did you _see_ any of Ronodin's horns?"

Seth shook his head. "Not really. He was in his human form the whole time. But whenever he utilized dark magic, he used this strange staff to do so."

"A staff?" asked Bracken.

"Yeah. He said it was created from his first two horns. Other unicorns don't do that sort of thing, do they?"

"I don't know. Most unicorns retain their first two horns after outgrowing them. But for sentimental reasons, as they don't increase or augment their power further. They keep them to protect them from being misused by others. Now, I voluntarily gave up all three of my horns, but that's unusual. But other unicorns, such as my sisters, still have their old horns."

"Stargleam's on her second horn, right?" asked Kendra.

"Correct. And she lost her first one when she was taken into the Demon Domain as a captive. When her third horn grows in, she'll be able to assume her human avatar."

"Getting back to Ronodin," said Seth. "What do we do about him?"

"I'm not sure," replied Bracken. "In fact, if he does have the power of three horns on him, two of which have been corrupted, there's no telling what he could be capable of. He may be far more powerful than a normal unicorn."

"Ronodin said that he considers himself to be a warlock."

"A warlock?" gasped Grandma.

"Unless he's bluffing, then this is serious," said Bracken. "Now, while my fellow unicorns and I are capable of magic, we are in no way in the same league as sorcerers. Especially one who, as Seth claims, has allied himself with a multitude of demons."

"I realize that he's powerful," said Kendra. "But after hearing about his plans for conquest, we need to stop him. At any cost."

"And how do you propose we do that?" asked Ingrid. "He's not actually a demon. He's a unicorn. A creature of light."

"What we need to do is incapacitate him," said Bracken. "If we can overpower Ronodin, we have a chance of stopping him."

"First we have to find him," said Warren. "Seth, did Ronodin say where he was going when he left you?"

Seth shook his head. "Ronodin seemed pretty wary when he was about to leave, so he summoned a demon took watch over me, then put me to sleep."

"Wait a moment," said Kendra. "Who cares if we don't know where he is? We can just look for him using the Oculus!"

Seth smacked his fist into the palm of his hand. "Bingo! Why should we even fret about trying to figure out where he is? We should've just done this in the first place. Back when we only knew him as Jeremy."

"I don't know why we even bothered putting this thing back," said Dale, as he got up from his seat and made his way up the stairs to the second floor. A moment later, Dale came back down the stairs holding in his hand the Oculus.

"Okay," said Kendra, as she accepted the Oculus from Dale. "I can do this."

Kendra clenched the Oculus in her hands and proceeded to envision Ronodin in her head. Or Jeremy rather, for that was whom she was introduced to him as. However, all that Kendra could see was a black void that had overtaken the back of her eyelids.

"Do you see him?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Where is he?" asked Warren.

"I can't see him," said Kendra.

"You remember what he looked like, right?" asked Ingrid.

"Well enough. I'm trying, but I just can't see him."

Bracken sighed, as Kendra opened her eyes and set the Oculus down on the table.

"What's wrong, Kendra?" asked Grandma.

"He's not showing up," replied Kendra. "I just can't see him."

"Let me try," said Seth, as he picked up the Oculus. "I was with him more recently, and for a longer time. Maybe I'll have better luck than you."

The image of Ronodin more heavily engrained in his mind, Seth squeezed the Oculus firmly and began envision the unicorn-turned warlock in his mind. Nothing appeared. Seth focused as hard as he could on Ronodin, but alas, could not get his captor to appear in his vision.

"I don't get it," said Seth, as he opened his eyes. "Why can't we find him?"

"You don't suppose... maybe he's in place that the Oculus can't reach?" asked Ingrid.

"I wouldn't rule out the theory entirely," said Grandpa. "But it's not an impossibility."

"Maybe he's shielding himself from unwanted detection," said Dale. "Like some sort of distractor spell."

"I think I know why neither Kendra nor Seth were successful in locating Ronodin," said Bracken.

"Why's that?" asked Seth.

"Go ahead and try to locate _me_ using the Oculus."

"What do I need to do _that_ for? You're right here."

"Just try it," said Bracken, as he got up from his seat and left the room.

"This feels like a waste of time," said Seth, as he again closed his eyes, clenched the Oculus and began to focus on his new target.

Finding Bracken would be too easy. He was _way_ too familiar with him. Plus, Seth knew that he was standing right around the corner in the front hall. So, how come Seth found himself being unable to locate Bracken?

"I don't... get it," said Seth, as he opened his eyes. "I can even locate Bracken with this thing. Am I losing my touch?"

"Maybe it's broken," said Ingrid.

"The Oculus has its limits," said Bracken, as he walked back into the room. "I wasn't cheating or anything."

"What are you talking about?" asked Kendra.

"As a unicorn, my avatar provides me with a special sort of protection. As such, I am immune to the detection abilities of the Oculus. Now, Ronodin probably isn't even aware of it, but it would appear that he too also possesses that same immunity."

"Great..." said Seth. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We still have to find Ronodin," said Kendra. "Even if we have to do it another way."


	14. Stakeout

**Chapter 14: Stakeout**

Grandma walked into the living room, carrying a tray full of glasses of pink lemonade. As soon as she set the tray down on the coffee table, everyone who was sitting in the room reached towards it and grasped a hand around one of the cool glasses.

The ice cubes on the surface of the beverage clunked against the glass as Kendra brought her lemonade up towards her mouth and took a considerable gulp. As the cold lemonade flowed into her mouth and down her throat, Kendra experienced a very refreshing and relaxing sensation.

"That really hit the spot," said Kendra. "Thanks!"

"I figured you all could use a little drink," said Grandma. "After all that running around you've done."

"I wish I could've been more useful," said Seth, as he took a sip of his lemonade. "All I did was sleep in a cage. God, I can't believe I got kidnapped _again_."

"Between you and Kendra, you two might actually break Princess Peach's kidnapping record," said Warren.

"You got us information about Ronodin, though," said Bracken. "That alone is still quite useful."

"Yeah. At least now we have an idea of what we're up against. But even so, we don't know where to find Ronodin. And the Oculus being unable to detect a unicorn while he's in his avatar form isn't really helping."

"Did Ronodin mention where he lived?" asked Kendra. "I get the feeling that the cave you were in wasn't actually his home."

Seth shook his head. "Wish I knew."

"Hold on!" said Ingrid. "Seth, Ronodin was going to come back for you, right? I mean, he kidnapped you because he wanted to have you. Not to just lock you up indefinitely."

"You're saying that Ronodin intends to come back to check on Seth, right?" asked Warren.

Ingrid nodded.

"That's not a bad idea," said Grandpa. "Except, we have no way of knowing when Ronodin is coming back to that cave, do we?"

"Unfortunately," said Seth. "Before he left, Ronodin said something about making some preparations. But, as to what those preparations were, and how long he'll be gone for, your guess is as good as mine."

"Hold on," said Kendra. "What if Ronodin's already gone back to the cave since we left?"

"We've only been away like ten minutes!" said Seth.

"There's still a possibility that Ronodin could've returned in those ten minutes," said Warren. "It's unlikely, but if it's true, then we may already be too late."

"Still," said Kendra, "we're not going to accomplish anything by waiting around here and drinking lemonade, as nice as it is."

"I'm afraid that in order to find Ronodin, our best chance would be to go back to the cave and wait around for him to return," said Bracken.

"But, that could be dangerous!" exclaimed Seth. "You yourself said that Ronodin seems far more powerful than any normal unicorn. How are we supposed to deal with him?"

"There was a chance that we would've had to deal with him when we first went to rescue you. Of course, when we did that, we didn't know who your captor actually was."

"But we're not alone," said Ingrid. "We've got four dragons on our side, not to mention somebody who's fairykind _and_ another person who's angelkind."

Warren smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I can't wait to see the look on Ronodin's face when he comes back and sees all of us waiting for him, instead of Seth still asleep in that cell, guarded by that ugly monster! He won't know what hit him!"

Seth winced. "It's not that simple. You know that demon that was with me? Well, Ronodin allegedly claimed that he can summon a whole lot more of them with almost no effort."

"I see," said Bracken. "It was one thing for Kendra to impale a lone demon with Vasilis. But what's she going to do if Ronodin directs twenty demons to attack us all at once?"

"We might need some help dealing with Ronodin," said Kendra. "As it stands now, we only have one unicorn and a few small dragons on our side. Seth and I can't use our powers without support. Do we all have enough power between us to deal with Ronodin?"

"Couldn't we seek out some help?" asked Ingrid. "Maybe Bright or Clover?"

"Your intentions are good," said Bracken. "But I really don't want to pull any of my fellow fairy angels away from their commitments unless it's absolutely, one-hundred percent necessary."

"Either way, we should really get a move on," said Warren.

The group made their way outside and headed over towards the dragons' cave at the edge of the yard. Looking upwards, Kendra could see that the moon and stars were decorating the sky. Glancing at her watch, Kendra saw that the time was currently ten-twenty.

"Hold on a second," said Kendra, as she raised her hand, prompting everyone to stop moving.

"What is it?" asked Bracken.

"It's getting late. Are we really going to stay up _all_ night waiting around in that cave for Ronodin to return?"

"You got a better idea?" asked Seth. " _Somebody's_ gotta wait for him."

"Kendra's got a point, though," said Ingrid. "We need to sleep."

"We _could_ stand guard at the cave in shifts," said Warren.

"It's hard enough to wait around during the day," said Seth. "But in the dead of night, when I'd rather be sleeping? Isn't there a better way we could go about doing this?"

"What we need for this is a dedicated night watchman," said Bracken.

"I'll do it," said Warren. "As much as I enjoy getting my beauty rest..."

Kendra focused for a moment, until an idea suddenly popped into her head. "I've got it! Couldn't Hugo watch the cave for us?"

"Kendra," said Warren. "You're a genius! Hugo's an automaton that doesn't sleep. And he doesn't have any real duties during the night beyond watching over the preserve."

"So Hugo could just watch the cave for us, and alert us if there's any trouble," said Seth.

"Where would we stay?" asked Ingrid.

"We could stay right here," said Bracken. "Kendra, if we let Hugo borrow your coin, he can stay in contact with us."

"But if we stay here and sleep, how are we going to stay in contact with Hugo through the coin?" asked Seth.

There was a pause, as everyone stopped to think.

"Mendigo," said Warren. "Hugo can watch the cave. And if he senses anything unusual, he can alert Mendigo, who in turn can wake us up."

"Problem," said Bracken. "How long is it going to take for Mendigo to wake all of us up?" asked Bracken.

"We could all sleep in the same spot," said Ingrid. "Like in the living room."

"Okay," said Warren. "I'm going to tell Stan what we're planning, then I'll round up Hugo and Mendigo. You guys tell the dragons about our plan."

"No need for that," came Raxtus' voice from the direction of the cave, as Warren headed back towards the house.

"We were kinda eavesdropping on you guys," said Skyfrost, as he and the other dragons all emerged from the cave.

"Putting Hugo and Mendigo on guard duty sounds like a great idea," said Geminus.

"Great," said Seth. "Saves us the trouble of having to explain everything to you."

"Where are we gonna sleep, though?" asked Ingrid. "I was proposing that we all sleep together, but there's no sensible way for Skyfrost and Firesquall to fit into the living room."

"Why don't we sleep in the yard with the dragons?" asked Kendra. "There's plenty of tents and sleeping bags in the house."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Bracken and the dragons all made their way back to the house. The four humans went into the house through the back door, while the dragons waited on the patio. They passed through the kitchen and walked down the hall to the closet. Rolled up on a high shelf were several rolled up sleeping bags, which Bracken and Seth grabbed, along with several pillows. Kendra and Ingrid each grabbed a folded-up tent that had been sitting on a lower shelf.

The group then carried their gear back onto the back patio, where the dragons had been waiting, then continued onto a grassy part of the yard near the dragons' cave. As soon as they had set the tents and sleeping gear down on the grass, Hugo and Mendigo both approached the group, with Warren sitting atop the golem's shoulder.

"Good work," said Warren, as he dropped down from Hugo's shoulder and scurried over to the group. A moment later, Hugo and Medigo caught up with him. "You got sleeping gear and everything!"

Kendra looked up at both Hugo and Medigo. They both appeared to be wearing vacant expressions on their faces. But Kendra knew that they were deeper than that. That the two of them both had genuine feelings. Especially Hugo. Kendra knew that Hugo was stronger than Mendigo, but he was also being assigned with a potentially dangerous mission. What would he do if Ronodin were to discover him before he could call for help?

"Hugo," said Kendra. "I really appreciate what you're doing. We all do. But if you don't feel safe about all this, that's okay. This could be a very dangerous mission."

"Hugo wants to help," bellowed the golem. "Hugo not afraid."

"You really mean it?" asked Ingrid.

"Yes... Hugo not afraid. Hugo brave."

"They've got a point," said Geminus. "What if something happens to you?"

Hugo opened his mouth, but no words came out of it. Instead, he paused.

"Hugo... willing to take that chance."

"Hugo..." said Kendra, "come here."

Kendra walked directly up to Hugo and wrapped her arms as far as they could go around his immense body, which was not even halfway. Although he felt like a mound of rocks and dirt against her skin, Kendra knew that down inside there was a being with a heart.

"Hugo care about Kendra," said the golem, as Seth and Ingrid also embraced Hugo in hugs. "Hugo care about... all of you."

Warren sighed. "I didn't order Hugo to do this, even though I could have. Instead, I asked him. I explained what he had to do, and I gave him the opportunity to turn it down. He didn't."

Hugo nodded.

"Be careful," said Seth. "Remember, we're doing all this so that we can be ready in case something goes wrong."

"Just speak through my coin," said Kendra. "Oh, that reminds me."

Kendra then reached into her pocket and pulled out her special coin that Bracken had produced for her. She then presented it to Hugo, who proceeded to grab it with his oversized thumb and index finger.

"Mendigo," said Bracken, offering his hand to the limberjack. "Here's my coin. You and Hugo should now be able to communicate with each other. I know you can't speak, but you get the idea."

Mendigo nodded as he accepted Bracken's coin from him.

"Let's do this," said Warren, as he looked up at Hugo and nodded.

"I'll come with you," said Bracken.

"Can we come too?" asked Ingrid.

Warren shook his head. "Sorry. But we're only going to be gone a minute."

Warren wound up the Translocator, then held it out in front of himself. Once Bracken and Hugo were touching the artifact, Warren twisted it again, causing the three of them to seemingly vanish into thin air.

"I hope they're okay," said Ingrid.

" _We are okay,"_ said Hugo. Unsure as to where his voice was coming from, Kendra looked around until she remembered that Mendigo was holding onto Bracken's magical coin in his hand.

" _No sign of Ronodin,"_ said Warren. " _We're going to get Hugo set up first, then Bracken and I will head straight back."_

"What can we do until then?" asked Skyfrost.

"There's not much for you dragons to do," said Kendra. "But we've got some tents to set up."

Kendra picked up one of the folded up tents and removed it from the protective bag it had been in. As she placed it down upon a clear, nearby patch of grass, Kendra unfastened a buckle and the tent popped open. However, the tent was unsteady and wobbly, and could not stand up on its own in this current state.

"Let me give you a hand with that," said Ingrid, as she pulled four stakes and a mallet out of the tent bag.

Kendra held the unsteady tent in place as Ingrid went ahead and pounded the stakes through its four corners and into the ground. Once the tent was in place, Kendra let go. The tent was now standing up on its own.

"Nice," said Seth. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Kendra and Ingrid turned around, and saw that Seth was still fumbling with his scrunched up tent, trying to hammer in the first of his four stakes.

"Allow me," said Warren, as he grabbed the mallet out of Seth's hand. No doubt he and Bracken had returned while the kids were preoccupied trying to set up their tents.

"Is Hugo okay?" asked Seth, as he fed a stake through the hoop of one corner of the tent.

"He's ready," said Warren, as he pounded the stake that Seth was holding into into ground.

"He and Mendigo will be on full alert all night," said Bracken. "Hugo isn't actually in the cave. However, he's waiting around nearby, in a spot where he can see the entrance."

"That's probably for the best," said Raxtus. "After all, that cave seemed like a dead end."

After both of the tents had been set up, the group went back inside the house and washed up, then got ready for bed. Having changed into their sleeping wear, the group made their way back out into the yard, where Mendigo was standing between the two tents.

"We should be good," said Bracken. "Mendigo has been instructed to wake us if he receives any sort of alert from Hugo."

"It's getting late," said Ingrid, as she glanced at her phone, the screen of which illuminated her face against the darkness of the night.

"Well, we best be retiring for the night," said Warren. "Let's get in our tents."

Seth and Bracken watched as Warren unzipped one of the tents and stepped inside. He then unfurled a sleeping bag and lined it up against one side of the tent. Next, he set a pillow down at the top end of the sleeping bag. Bracken and Seth proceeded to pass Warren two more sleeping bags and pillows, which he also set up.

Warren settled down into one of the side sleeping bags, while Seth got into the one in the center. Bracken then stepped into the tent and zipped it up behind him, then climbed into the sleeping bag on Seth's other side.

Meanwhile, Kendra and Ingrid had set up and gotten into their own sleeping bags in the other tent. Although both tents were large enough to hold three sleepers, the girls' tent had more space with only two occupants.

Kendra found herself unable to fall asleep for a while, even after Ingrid had seemingly fallen into dreamland. She couldn't help but worry about Hugo. What would happen to Hugo if Ronodin found and did something to him very abruptly, before he could call for help?

Some time later, Seth could feel his body being shaken around. As his eyes were closed, he couldn't quite determine as to what exactly was going on.

"Wake up!" said Dale.

Feeling weary, Seth opened his eyes and saw that Dale was partially leaning over him, trying to get Warren's attention.

"Dale..." groaned Seth. "What are you doing? What time is it?"

"It's not even six..." whined Warren, as he let out a perturbed yawn.

"You need to get up," said Dale.

"Oh no!" gasped Seth, as a million thoughts came rushing into his mind. "Dale, what happened!"

"Nothing happened," said Dale, as Bracken started to emerge from his sleeping bag. "I just need Hugo back so he can get to work milking Viola. Nothing happened to him, right?"

"I guess not," said Bracken.

"I'll get him back," said Warren, as he crawled out of his sleeping bag and followed Dale out of the tent. "You two can sleep in for a bit longer."

"You really think Hugo's okay?" asked Seth, as Warren zipped up the tent from the outside.

"We didn't hear anything from Mendigo all night," said Bracken. "I think that's a good sign."

"Only it's not," said Seth. "If Hugo didn't spot Ronodin, then this whole mission was a complete waste."

"Regrettably. By not encountering any trouble, we haven't been able to make any progress."

"It's so early. How can Dale force himself to get up so early every single morning?"

"He's highly determined," said Bracken. "Let's just go back to sleep."

Seth nestled himself back underneath his covers and closed his eyes. A moment later, the tent was unzipped from the outside.

"Warren?" asked Seth, who wasn't even in the mood to open his eyes again.

"Yeah, it's me," said Warren. "I had to bring Hugo back for Dale. "He's fine, but I'm actually going to be going back to the cave and doing a bit of waiting there myself until breakfast."

"Oh, okay. Are you going to tell the girls?"

Warren shook his head. "I'd rather not. No need to wake them. They look so peaceful."

"Will you be okay like this?" asked Bracken.

"I've been through a lot worse," said Warren. "I've got the coin back from Hugo and everything, and I'll be holding onto the Translocator."

"Okay," said Seth. "See you later."

"See ya," said Warren, as he zipped the tent back up.

Seth proceeded to pull the top of his sleeping bag over his face. Although he was thankful that Hugo had been unharmed, he was also disappointed in the fact that Ronodin had not yet returned. Would he come back in time for Warren to spot him, or would his absence extend even further? Unable to focus any longer, Seth soon found himself falling back asleep.


	15. Nowhere to Seek

**Chapter 15: Nowhere to Seek**

A few hours later, Seth, Kendra and Ingrid had all woken up. They made their way into the house, where they washed up and changed into fresh clothes, then sat down in the dining room.

"Sorry you guys didn't have any luck finding Ronodin," said Grandpa, as Grandma walked into the dining room and set down a large tray full of piping hot, pre-sliced English muffins.

"There's gotta be some way we can find him," said Ingrid, as Seth reached for one of the English muffins with his hand. As soon as his fingertips made contact with the baked good, he immediately experienced a burning sensation against his skin, prompting him to rapidly retract his hand.

"Use a fork," said Kendra, as she pierced the prongs of her fork into both halves of a muffin, the hoisted it across the table and onto her plate.

At that moment, Warren came into the dining room and sat down in his chair.

"Bracken's on watch for Ronodin," said Warren, as he reached for an English muffin. Kendra watched as Warren winced upon touching the muffin, only for him to seemingly endure the pain as he plopped it onto his plate, then wrapped his fingers around his glass of orange juice.

"How much longer do we have to keep waiting around for Ronodin to return?" asked Seth.

"I don't know," replied Grandpa, as he rubbed his thumb against his chin. "It's still early in the day. If Ronodin went far, even _he_ would've had to stop and rest at some point."

Grandma then came back into the dining room, where she set down a tray full of poached eggs. Using their forks, everyone grabbed an egg and stuck it between the two halves of their English muffin, then placed a slice of cheese, as well as a slice of Canadian bacon on top of it.

"So how long is Bracken supposed to wait around for Ronodin to return?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Well, Hugo should be done his required chores in about an hour," said Dale. "After that, he could probably go back to watching out for Ronodin for a little while longer. I could probably get by for a little while without Hugo's help."

Everyone went ahead and ate their breakfast sandwiches. As it was a Saturday, the kids did not have any lessons to attend to. After a while, Bracken made his return to Fablehaven, then sent Hugo back to the cave to wait around for Ronodin.

Because Hugo was not around to help out, the rest of the family agreed to help out in his absence. Duties that were assigned to Kendra, Seth and Ingrid included delivering a wagon full of tea leaves, pulled by a reindeer, over to the dryads' domain, as well as harvesting some grapes from a miniature vineyard, located not too far away from the greenhouse.

"Man, this is a lot of hard work," groaned Seth, as he, Kendra and Ingrid all sat upon the front of the wagon, which was being pulled back towards the main house by Cupid.

"I'd gladly watch out for Ronodin instead of doing all this," said Ingrid. "Let Hugo do it."

"I'd probably die of boredom if I had to wait around for hours, knowing there was a good chance that nothing could happen. At least with all these chores, we're accomplishing something."

Soon Cupid had pulled the wagon all the way up towards the back patio of the house. The kids got off the wagon and unattached it from Cupid, who trotted off into the forest.

"Where did Dale say he wanted these grapes?" asked Ingrid.

"He said that right here is fine," replied Kendra. "He'll get to sorting them in the afternoon."

"It's almost lunch time," said Seth, glancing at his watch. He then saw Mendigo standing around, not too far from the patio. "Hey, Mendigo! Have you heard anything from Hugo?"

The limberjack shook his head.

"This is getting us nowhere," said Kendra.

"Kids," said Grandma, who was standing at the back door to the house. "Come inside. Lunch is ready!"

The kids made their way back into the house and washed up. They then sat down at the dining room table with the rest of the family.

"Hugo still hasn't sensed Ronodin," said Seth, as Grandma set a bowl of tomato bisque down in front of him.

"We know," said Grandpa. "After breakfast, I spoke to a few of our allies about the situation. And frankly, it's entirely possible that Ronodin _knows_ that Seth is missing."

"How's that?" asked Ingrid.

"He may have placed a charm on the cave. One that could've alerted him if Seth had been liberated. If that's the case, and it very well may be, then he would know that it would be futile to return there."

"You're saying, that he might never come back to that cave?" asked Seth.

Grandpa shook his head.

"How can you be sure?" asked Kendra.

"While I was waiting by the cave for Ronodin, I did some investigating," said Bracken. "And I did in fact sense traces of magical energy around the cave. And the feeling I got from the energy was all too similar to the vibe I got from Ronodin when he was posing as Jeremy. It makes the charm that Stan spoke of seem a lot more feasible."

"Great," moaned Seth. "Now how are we gonna find him? We've got no leads on this guy, and the stupid Oculus can't even find him."

"It's like we're out of ideas," said Ingrid.

"Why not ask someone else for advice?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Like who?" asked Kendra.

"It'd have to be someone who knows a lot about unicorns."

Bracken cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Bracken. But I was thinking maybe somebody who understands unicorns from a different perspective. They don't need to be a unicorn themselves. But they need to understand them. Almost scientifically, if that makes any sense."

"Why not Tanu?" asked Warren. "He has a lot of insight on all sorts of magical creatures. I know his forte is potion-making, but he is pretty insightful about this sort of thing."

"That sounds like a good idea, actually," said Grandpa. "I'll call Tanu right after lunch. If he's available, maybe you could pay him a visit. Today is Saturday, so I don't think he's working."

As the family ate their lunch, Seth thought back to when he had been captured by Ronodin. The experience raced through his mind, and he tried to think of every little detail that he could. However, something suddenly popped into his head. Ronodin had mentioned that he had initially been informed about Seth by Snort and Snout. But who were they?

Ronodin had stated that they had been guards at Murdred's castle. But Seth didn't know much about the castle guards at all. Of course, he recalled that there was a guard with warthog-like features that usually guarded the front door. And in the dungeon, there was a guard that resembled a rhinoceros.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Seth. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

"Calm down, Seth," said Mr. Sorenson. "What did you not think of?"

"Ronodin found out about me because of two guards who worked at Murdred's castle. Snort and Snout."

"What about them?" asked Grandma.

"They came into this world," said Seth. "Maybe I can use the Oculus to find them! I know what they look like and everything!"

"That might actually work," said Warren. "Might as well give it a shot."

After lunch was finished, the family made their way into the living room. Dale had gone upstairs and soon came back down, carrying with him the Oculus, which he placed down on the table before Seth.

"Okay," said Seth. "Let's do this."

"How do you know that Snort and Snout are the two guards you're thinking of?" asked Kendra. "That castle was huge. There could've been hundreds of guards."

"They're the only proper guards I was aware of," said Seth. "If they are who I think they are, and I can find them, maybe they can lead us to Ronodin."

Seth picked up the Translocator and immediately thought of the warthog-esque guard. Seth recalled that he was purple in color, and had a monstrous, albeit humanoid build. Whether he was the one referred to as _Snort_ or _Snout_ , Seth had no way of knowing.

Nothing appeared in Seth's vision, despite his best efforts. He then tried to search for the rhinoceros-like guard. But alas, nothing came up. His line of sight remained pitch black.

"I can't find them," said Seth, opening his eyes. "Either those weren't the demons that Ronodin found, or something has happened to them."

"It was worth a try," said Grandma, as Grandpa entered the room.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Grandpa. "But I spoke to Tanu just now. He said you can come over and visit him at any time. He's free all day."

"Well, we might as well get a move on," said Warren.

"Hold on a moment," said Seth. "Where exactly does Tanu even live?"

"Right now, he's living in the Los Angeles area," said Grandpa.

"Shouldn't be too hard to reach him," said Warren. "I've been to LA before."

Kendra's eyes suddenly lit up. "Me too! Remember, Bracken? When we were looking for that eternal, Mark!"

Bracken nodded. "I remember that. Not the best memory I've had, though."

"We're gonna need a place to travel to, first," said Warren.

"How about that beach?" asked Kendra. "I recall it not being too occupied in one part. We could take the Translocator there, then head over to Tanu's place."

"Sounds good," said Warren. "LA's such a busy place. I'm not sure where else we could travel to that'd be closer."

The group went back outside, where they met up with the dragons by the entrance to their lair.

"So, you guys are heading to Los Angeles?" asked Raxtus.

"Sure are," said Bracken. "Hugo's back now, so Dale can keep an eye on Vanessa."

"Okay," said Skyfrost. "I guess we're ready to roll."

Warren twisted the Translocator and held it out so that everyone could touch it.

"Err, could somebody who was actually at this beach do the honors?" asked Warren, glancing at Kendra, Bracken and Raxtus.

"Sure," said Kendra. As she pictured the coastline in her mind, she went ahead and twisted the Translocator using her free hand.

Within the blink of an eye, the group found that they were no longer standing upon the grassy yard at Fablehaven. Rather, they were standing in sand, which blanketed the the entire beach they had appeared at.

With the wall of a shop to their backs, everyone gazed out at the warm, sunny beach that lay before them. In the distance, they could see hundreds of people walking around, while others were sitting on towels. Others still were swimming around in the water.

"This place is cool!" said Seth, who could see a Ferris wheel and roller coaster only a few hundred feet from their current position.

"Cool or not, I hope we aren't drawing much attention," said Skyfrost.

"The wyverns cannot conceal themselves," said Geminus. "We better get moving."

"This place brings back memories," said Raxtus, as Kendra and Bracken got up onto his back. "Not the most pleasant ones. I slayed a bunch of wyverns here. Young ones at that."

"Don't remind me," grumbled Firesquall, narrowing his brow as Warren climbed up onto the green wyvern.

" _Those_ wyverns were cruel," said Bracken, as the dragons all began to fly up into the air.

"That's all we ever hear," said Skyfrost. "Wyverns are nasty, horrible creatures."

"Not our family," said Firesquall. "Not our parents. Our original ones, at least."

"I'm sorry," said Raxtus. "I shouldn't have said anything."

The dragons flew across the city of Santa Monica and within minutes were soaring above Los Angeles. Kendra stared down at the city below, in awe of the massive size and landscape. Not that she could make out any proper landmarks from her current altitude.

"We've got Tanu's address on us," said Warren, as he looked over his tablet. "I'm pretty sure that his building is nearby."

"We'll head down," said Raxtus, as he proceeded to soar downwards.

As the dragons descended, the roofs of several blocks of highrises seemingly grew closer and closer.

"I'm sensing something," said Raxtus, as he and the others came in for a landing atop one of the highrises.

"Me too," said Geminus. "It feels like it's coming from this very building, but beneath us."

"Same here," said Bracken.

Warren studied his tablet. "This might actually be Tanu's building. The address matches our position."

"I bet we can find his condo," said Raxtus. "Come on!"

"You guys sure about this?" asked Ingrid, as the dragons leaped off of the roof and flew down several stories, then stopped in midair.

Kendra looked down. Numerous vehicles were driving back and forth along the many lanes of the busy street below, which had to be a good two dozen or so stories down from their current height.

"Over here," said Geminus, as she flew onto one of the balconies. Once all four dragons had landed, they found that they barely had any room left to stand.

"This has to be the place!" said Raxtus, as Kendra and Bracken got down from him, and he assumed his fairy form. Once Ingrid got off of Geminus, she too shrunk down to a fairy.

"Guess we ought to knock," said Seth, who had climbed down from Skyfrost.

"If this _isn't_ Tanu's place, what'll we say?" asked Ingrid, as Seth rapped on the sliding door that led into the condominium.

"That we're very good at being peeping toms, and we're sorry," said Warren.

Peering through the door and into the condominium, everyone watched as Tanu entered his living room, then noticed everyone on the balcony. Tanu raised a hand towards the group as he walked up the the door to the balcony and slid it open.

"Hello, everyone," said Tanu, as Kendra pressed forward and gave the large man a hug.

"How long has it been since we saw you?" asked Seth.

"Only a few weeks," replied Tanu. "It was at the celebratory party for when you defeated Murdred. Please, come in!"

As Raxtus and Geminus shrunk down to their fairy forms, both Skyfrost and Firesquall seemed wary about crouching down in an attempt to fit through the doorway.

"Should we just wait out here?" asked Firesquall.

"I'll take you guys back to Fablehaven," said Warren. "You'll appreciate it."

Warren and the wyverns proceeded to vanish using the Translocator. A few seconds later, Warren returned to the balcony by himself.

"Sorry about the _confined_ accommodations," said Tanu. "Please, come in."

The group followed Tanu into living room as he shut the door to the balcony behind himself.

"Make yourself at home," said Tanu, as everyone found a seat on either a couch or chair.

Having never been to Tanu's home before, Kendra glanced around the room. It was decorated in modern-looking furniture, artwork and furnishings. There was nothing to give away that the person who owned it specialized in mixing magical potions.

"So," said Tanu. "I understand that you have had a run-in with Ronodin, the dark unicorn."

"Yeah," said Seth. "And from what I understand, it sounds like he has some big plans in store."

"Ah, yes. Your grandfather Stan told me about everything."

"Which is what brought us to you," said Bracken. "Ronodin is out there, somewhere. And we have no way of locating him."

"The Oculus..." said Kendra. "It just isn't able to locate Ronodin for us. Bracken says it's because it can't detect a unicorn outside of its true form."

"I know not the full capabilities of the Oculus," said Tanu. "But yes. Unicorns are indeed protected by a special force of magic."

"You wouldn't know of a way around this little protection snafu, would you?" asked Warren.

Tanu shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I have researched unicorns to the best of my abilities. While they are not large in size, their potential powers are nearly unparalleled by any other creature known to man.

"It's clear that trying to find Ronodin through the Oculus is not going to work," said Ingrid. "But, could there be another method of tracking him that you might suggest?

"Nothing that comes to mind."

"You don't have some sort of potion that would make it easier for us to track Ronodin? Or any unicorn, for that matter?"

"I'm afraid not," said Tanu.

"Maybe something to attract a unicorn?" asked Warren.

"Like bait in a trap?" chimed in Seth.

Bracken laughed. "No. Sorry, guys. But not only would we have to _find_ Ronodin first, but no unicorn is dumb enough to go after any sort of bait that just _happens_ to be lying around."

"And the only thing that Ronodin seems to even want," said Kendra, "is _you_ , Seth."

"Tanu, you said that you've studied unicorns," said Ingrid. "What unicorns were these?"

"I have only studied the remains of deceased unicorns," replied Tanu. "The only live ones I've ever seen are Bracken, his family, and Stargleam. And, while I could potentially conduct further studies on live unicorns, I feel that I've amassed a significant understanding of them via my existing research."

"Great," said Seth. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry that I could not be of more help to you folks," said Tanu. "But even if I _could_ do more research, I wouldn't have very much time for it. I have been very been busy lately."

"This doesn't solve our problem, though," said Kendra.

"From what I gather, I would just be wary," said Tanu. "It sounds like Ronodin might not stop until he gets what he wants; namely Seth. Rather than risk an unexpected run-in with Ronodin, it might be best for Seth to just remain at Fablehaven, where Ronodin will have a hard time getting to him. If you're fortunate, Ronodin might just slip up while biding his time."

"I hope so," said Seth. "I really hope so."


	16. The Unseen

**Chapter 16: The Unseen**

Having concluded their brief, yet informative meeting with Tanu, the group proceeded to travel back to the yard at Fablehaven by way of the Translocator.

As Seth removed his hand from the Translocator, he couldn't help but stare down at the grass that was growing on the ground around his shoes.

"That didn't take long," said Skyfrost, whose voice could be heard coming from above Seth's head.

"How'd it go?" asked Firesquall, as Seth could hear the two wyverns lowering themselves down towards the ground for a landing.

"The visit..." said Kendra, as Raxtus and Geminus assumed their dragons forms, "it wasn't very... progressive."

"Kendra!" groaned Seth. "God..."

"What? What exactly did you want me to tell them?"

"Tanu wasn't really able to help us," said Raxtus. "There just wasn't any sort of information that he was able to provide us with."

"He had some advice, though," said Geminus. "But no real answers that would help us locate Ronodin."

"Great," said Seth. "Now you're all gonna go inside and tell my parents and grandparents the same bad news. That's just swell."

Seth walked over towards the front door of the house. A reindeer who happened to be grazing in the yard walked up towards Seth, expecting him to pat him on the head. However, Seth stormed past the reindeer and marched directly through the front door.

"Don't take it the wrong way, Blitzen," said Ingrid, as she patted the reindeer's snout, "Seth is just not in a good mood."

As Seth made his way into the entry hall of the house, Grandma entered through from the doorway that led into the living room.

"Hello, Seth," said Grandma.

"Hi," said Seth in an unenthusiastic voice, as he neglected to so much as turn his head towards his grandmother as he made his way up the stairs.

"Seth..." said Grandma, as the rest of his party passed through the front door and into the entry hall. "What's wrong?"

"Seth was not happy with Tanu's answers," said Warren. "And he's really worried."

"He doesn't want to talk about it," said Ingrid.

"You guys mind filling the others in on everything?" asked Bracken. "I want to talk to Seth."

"Uh, sure," said Kendra, as Bracken made his way up the stairs.

Lying on his stomach with his head buried into his pillow, Seth clenched his hand together and proceeded to pound against his mattress repeatedly. A few seconds later, he found himself being interrupted by someone knocking upon his bedroom door.

"What do you want?"muttered Seth, his voice partially muffled due to having his mouth pressed against his pillow.

"It's me," said Bracken, his voice coming from behind Seth's closed door. "Can I come in?"

Seth did not respond. After a brief pause, Seth could hear the door being opened, followed by a pair of footsteps making their way into his bedroom.

"Seth..." said Bracken. "Are you... _okay_?"

Seth lifted his head up from off of his pillow and took in a deep breath. He then turned himself over onto his back and saw Bracken standing at the foot of his bed.

"I'm just... upset," said Seth, as he continued to breathe heavily through his nostrils.

"About Ronodin," said Bracken. "I know. We all know. But why are you taking it so hard?"

"Because I'm worried. Ronodin managed to find a way into Fablehaven once by way of the Translocator. What's to stop him from getting back in again? He could of been hiding near that cave this whole time and snuck back here again when you or Warren were using the Translocator.

Bracken nodded. "Seth, I understand your concern. And I assure you that Warren and I, and even Hugo, have been very careful while we were on duty."

"How do I know that you're not an impostor?" asked Seth. "Or Warren?"

"Would Ronodin know that your favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip? Or that you aren't exactly a huge fan of that book that your mother is making you read?"

Seth smirked. "What about Warren?"

"What _about_ me?" asked Warren, who was now standing in the doorway to Seth's room.

"Seth is worried that Ronodin might've snuck back into Fablehaven," said Bracken. "He thinks that Ronodin might be hiding here again. Or even masquerading as one of _us_."

"Seth, you don't think that I'm... _me_?

"Seth, I can sense Warren. He's perfectly normal."

"And just to prove I'm not Ronodin," said Warren, "your name is Seth Andrew Sorenson. Your birthday is December 5th... and you _really_ don't like the book _Promenade Issues_..."

"I said that already," said Bracken.

"I get it," said Seth. "I'm glad that you guys are yourselves. But it doesn't prove that Ronodin isn't at Fablehaven. It's possible he could've slipped back in somehow."

Bracken nodded. "Tell you what, Seth. I will conduct a search of the entire preserve. By doing that, I'll be able to verify for sure whether Ronodin, or any unwanted individuals for that matter, is even here or not."

Seth nodded. "You know... that's actually a pretty good idea."

"How long is this search supposed to take?"

"Not too long. If I get some support, it'll go even faster. I can get started right away if you want."

"Do it!" said Warren. "Just in case Seth is right and Ronodin really _is_ back again."

"And if I am able to detect Ronodin, I'll also be able to sense _where_ on the preserve he actually is."

Seth and Warren followed Bracken out of the bedroom and downstairs to the entry hall. As they stepped off the bottom of the stairs, the rest of the family made their way into the entry hall.

"What's going on?" asked Kendra.

"Seth wants me to make sure that Ronodin, or any other possible uninvited guests, aren't traipsing around Fablehaven anywhere."

Bracken turned down the hall and made his way towards the back of the house, prompting the others to follow him. He passed through the kitchen and made his way out onto the back patio, where he stopped to stand in one spot. The family gathered around Bracken, just in time to watch as he pressed his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Bracken," said Ingrid. "Err... what are you doing, exactly?"

Bracken did not respond.

"Yo, Bracken!" blurted Seth.

"I think he knows what he's doing," said Kendra in a smooth voice.

Several seconds later, Bracken opened his eyes and revealed a smile. Before anyone could ask him so much as a single question, the family found their attention being drawn out towards the yard.

Galloping on the grass towards the house was Stargleam. Flying above her were Windshear, Raxtus and Geminus. Flying behind them were Skyfrost and Firesquall.

"We've come as you have requested," said Stargleam, as the red unicorn came to a halt in front of the steps at the end of the patio.

"Bracken, what is it?" asked Windshear, as the purple pegasus drifted down by Stargleam's side and folded his feathery wings against his flanks.

"Thank you for coming," said Bracken, once Raxtus and Geminus had landed behind Stargleam and Windshear.

"Would someone tell us what's going on?" asked Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall landed next to Raxtus and Geminus.

"Don't take this the wrong way," said Bracken, "but I require the powers of these four. Due to the recent breach by Ronodin, I am going to conduct a search for any potential intruders that may be on the preserve. With their help, I will be able to amplify my powers and search the preserve more efficiently."

"We have more intruders?" asked Geminus.

"Hopefully not," said Warren. "Which is exactly why Bracken is going to do perform a search."

"How exactly are you guys going to do this search?" asked Firesquall.

"It's actually pretty easy," replied Bracken. "Raxtus, Geminus, the three of us need to hold hands."

"Technically, on a dragon, they're called claws," said Raxtus, as he, Geminus and Bracken all gathered around in a small circle and clasped their hands and claws together.

"Either way. Now, I need you two to close yours eyes and lend me your power."

Raxtus and Geminus both nodded, then proceeded to close their eyes as they bowed their heads down.

Stargleam, lend me your power as well," said Bracken.

"Okay," said Stargleam, as she lowered her head and aimed her horn towards Bracken. As her horn started to glow red, a beam of bright energy spiraled out of it and shot directly at Bracken.

"Windshear, you help too," said Bracken.

Windshear neighed, as he unfurled his wings, which proceeded to emit a brilliant, purple glow.

"What are you guys doing, exactly?" asked Seth, as neither Bracken or any of the other creatures who were helping him gave any sort of response. Instead, they all seemed to be invested in their own little world.

"I think they're channeling their power into Bracken," said Kendra. "Somehow, he's conducting a search of the whole preserve, in a method that's invisible to us."

A moment later, Stargleam brought the energy beam that she was directing at Bracken to a stop. Windshear's wings stopped glowing, and the pegasus folded them back against the sides of his body. Lastly, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus opened their eyes and let go of one another.

"Well," said Bracken. "That takes care of that."

"What happened, exactly?" asked Ingrid.

"I performed a mental scan upon the entire preserve," replied Bracken. "All of the creatures and humans that are at Fablehaven are present and accounted for. There is no possible way for Ronodin, or any other unauthorized beings to even be here."

"Bracken, that's wonderful!" said Mrs. Sorenson.

"Are you sure?" asked Seth.

"Definitely," replied Geminus. "I too was able to sense what Bracken was sensing. I was able to get a feel for each and every last creature on this preserve."

"And all of the creatures that we sensed belonged here," said Raxtus.

"In other words," said Bracken, "the Fablehaven preserve is presently free of all unwanted guests. Ronodin is not here."

Seth let out a sigh. "That's a relief. Thanks for your help, all of you."

"And the best part is, Ronodin can't get back onto the preserve," said Kendra. "The protective barrier is simply too powerful."

Ingrid winced upon hearing Kendra's statement. "But, Ronodin implied that he's more powerful with his horns. That he's some sort of warlock."

"If he intends to penetrate the barrier, I'd like to see it," said Bracken. "The other fairy angels and I used some pretty powerful magic to reinforce it."

Seth thought back to the instance that Bracken was referring to. It was when he had been cursed by Murdred, and was becoming darker and darker by the minute.

"Do you recall as to _why_ the barrier failed?" asked Seth.

"Yeah," said Warren. "It was because the darkness within you was becoming more and more powerful. But, that's not a problem any more. Also, you were within the confines of Fablehaven when that happened. Ronodin and his dark magic is out there, somewhere. It can't get to us in here. Unless he has some sort of super-powerful method of bypassing that barrier that we don't know about. I hope not. You don't think he does, do you?"

"That's the thing," said Bracken. "Our enemies often seem to have a way of surprising us. And it's never in a good way."

"As long as the barrier does its job of keeping Ronodin out of Fablehaven, I don't see why we have any reason to worry," said Kendra.

"But, what's Ronodin going to do about all this?" asked Mr. Sorenson. "Even if he cannot get into the preserve, he could still cause havoc elsewhere. He's still at large."

"Regrettably, whatever Ronodin is getting up to at the moment is something that is simply beyond our control, Scott. The best thing we can do now is stay on our guard and be ready for anything."

"That's what worries me the most," said Seth. "Anything. Anything can happen."

The family spent the rest of the day taking it easy at Fablehaven. Although Seth was able to hang out his family and partake in their their activities, he ultimately did not feel happy. To him, the movie they watched together was meaningless. The games they played did not interest him. And the dinner that he ate, though it had texture, tasted as though it was lacking some degree of flavor.

It didn't matter what Seth did, he simply could not get over the fact that Ronodin was out there somewhere, and was intent on getting his hands on him.

After dinner had finished, Kendra, Ingrid, Warren, Dale and Bracken had gathered around in the parlor, where they set up the board game Clue and were all sitting around at the table.

Having kept to himself the whole time, Seth walked into the parlor, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Hey, Seth!" said Ingrid. "You wanna play? We can have a game with six players going!"

"Yeah," said Bracken. "Who do you wanna be? Mr. Green? Colonel Mustard?"

"Problem is, there's only three male characters," said Warren. "One of us guys is gonna have to be a chick."

"I don't really want to play," said Seth. "Thanks anyway."

"Seth, are you still hung up on this whole Ronodin thing?" asked Ingrid. "Just let it go and chill with us already."

"Maybe tomorrow," said Seth. "I only came down here to get a drink. I still need a bit of alone time. There's been _way_ too much commotion for me over the past few days."

"Seth, I'm probably going to head home after the game," said Bracken, as he got up from his seat and walked over to Seth. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Bracken extended his hand to Seth, who shook it in response. "See ya," said Seth, as he waved to the rest of the group.

Seth then made his way into the kitchen and took a large bottle of apple cider out of the fridge, which he poured into a tall glass. After putting the bottle back, Seth carried the glass of apple cider up to his bedroom and sat down on his bed. He proceeded to turn on his TV and found a nature documentary on lions to watch. Seth normally didn't watch documentaries, but tonight, he wasn't in his usual mood. He found himself being drawn to the documentary, presumably because there was no real plot that he had to follow. It was just a sequence of unscripted events that a narrator spoke over.

Seth slowly sipped his apple cider, though he managed to finish his glass a lot faster than it took for the documentary to end. Roughly fifty minutes later, the documentary had ended, but another one came on, which went on for another hour.

After the second documentary ended, Seth went back downstairs and rinsed his glass out in the sink. He then walked back towards the parlor, and saw that the room was now empty; the game of Clue that the others had been playing had been tidied up, as he could see the box for it on a bookshelf, sitting at the top of a stack of various board games.

Seth then made his way back upstairs, where he brushed his teeth and changed into his bed clothes. After he had gone back to his room and laid down on his bed, someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," said Seth.

Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson both entered the room and walked up to Seth's bedside.

"You feeling any better, Seth?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"A little," said Seth. "I know Ronodin can't get to me. I've just been on edge lately."

"Good to hear," said Mr. Sorenson. "You know, you're not the only one who's concerned about Ronodin. The fact that he got onto the property the way he did terrified all of us."

"But he's gone now," said Mrs. Sorenson. "And you heard what Bracken said. There's no plausible way for him to get back in."

"I guess you're right," said Seth. "Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight Dad."

Mrs. Sorenson bent down and gave Seth a kiss on his cheek, while Mr. Sorenson patted him on his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Seth," said Mr. Sorenson, as he and his wife made their way out of the bedroom and closed the door behind themselves.

Seth then turned over toward his night stand and reached his hand over towards the lamp, which was currently the only thing keeping his room illuminated. Once he switched the lamp off, Seth's room became completely dark, save for his bedside clock and a few teeny bits of light that were seeping through the edges of his window shade and the bottom of his door.

Now in much better spirits, Seth got comfortable underneath his covers and closed his eyes. Before long, he had fallen sound asleep.

* * *

"...don't know what could have happened to them!" said a familiar, masculine voice

"They can't just be _gone_!" exclaimed another voice, which Seth immediately recognized as belonging to Grandpa.

"Well... they are!" cried the first voice, which Seth now realized was Dale's.

Opening his eyes, Seth turned his head over to glance at his alarm clock. The digital display currently read 5:43.

Seth was feeling extremely groggy. He wondered what Dale and Grandpa could be arguing about at this hour. Sure, Dale normally got up early every morning to tend to his chores. But Dale always took extra precaution to make sure that he didn't wake other members of the household. Something fishy was definitely going on.

Seth tossed off his covers and slid out of bed. He made his way out of his room and looked down the hallway towards his grandparents' bedroom. The door to it was open and the light was on inside. Intrigued, Seth walked over towards the room and entered.

Inside the room, Dale was standing in front of the king-sized bed that Grandpa and Grandma were both sitting in.

"What's going on?" asked Seth. "What happened?"

"The fairies!" cried Dale, who looked to be completely devastated. "They're gone!"

"What fairies?" asked Seth. "Gone where?"

"The fairies here at Fablehaven!" blurted Dale, who seemed to be on the verge of crying. "I can't find them a _nywher_ e! They're all... _gone_!"


	17. Net Results

**Chapter 17: Net Results**

Seth took a good, solid look at Dale. His cousin appeared to be in complete shock. Never before had Seth ever seen such a devastated-looking expression displayed upon Dale's face.

"You can't be serious," said Seth. "The fairies are really all gone?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Dale. "Normally, they'd still be asleep at this time. But I always see a handful of fairies sleeping around the garden every morning. But today, there's none there!"

"Dale, are you absolutely _positive_ about all this?" asked Grandma, as Warren entered the grandparents' bedroom, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson, all of whom were still wearing their night clothes.

"What's this all about?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Yeah, some of us were still sleeping," grumbled Warren, as he proceeded to rub his eyes.

"The fairies in the yard... are gone!" blurted Dale. "All gone!"

"What?" asked Mrs. Sorenson, "Dale, are you absolutely _positive_?"

"I know what I saw," said Dale. "Or rather, what I _didn't_ see."

"Seth, go check on your sisters and wake them up if they aren't already," said Grandpa. "We need to have a talk. All of us."

His heart pounding heavily like a drum, Seth darted out of his grandparents' bedroom and down the hall. Seth dashed up the stairs to the attic and opened the door to the room where Kendra and Ingrid were still asleep in their beds.

"Ingrid!" shouted Seth. "Kendra! Wake up! Please!"

Feeling groggy, Kendra slowly opened her eyes. Standing before her in the middle of the attic was Seth.

"Seth!" moaned Ingrid from her bed. "What do you want?"

"Yeah," grumbled Kendra, glancing at her bedside clock. "It's _so_ early."

"Dale said the fairies in the yard are all gone!" exclaimed Seth. "Grandpa wants us all to come downstairs!"

"What?" asked Kendra, who was barely awake enough to process the news that Seth was relaying to her.

"Seth," began Ingrid, as she slipped out of her bed. "If this is your idea of a joke..."

"I'll order the fairies to turn you into a hamster, and I'll throw you in a plastic ball so fast..." said Kendra.

"Which you can't, because **there are** **no fairies at** _ **Fablehaven**_ to do your bidding. Listen to me, would ya?"

"You can't be serious," said Kendra, who now felt as though she had been punched in the stomach.

Seth groaned. "Would you two just shut up and come with me?"

Seth led Kendra and Ingrid down the stairs, then down the hall and into their grandparents' bedroom, where the rest of the family was waiting for them. Grandpa and Grandma were still sitting in their bed, while the others had all gathered around them.

"The fairies," said Ingrid. "What happened?"

"They can't all be gone, Dale," said Kendra. "Can they?"

"I couldn't find them anywhere," said Dale.

"What do you mean?" asked Ingrid.

"Dale, do you mind starting over?" asked Grandpa.

Dale took in a deep breath. "Okay. After waking up, I went outside to check on Hugo, like I do every morning. I didn't notice any fairies while I was passing through the garden. But every other morning, I _always_ see some, and they're usually asleep. Anyway, I found Hugo and told him to get to work milking Viola. I then went back to the garden and tried looking for the fairies. But I couldn't find _any_. And I looked all over!"

"You're saying, the fairies were nowhere to be found?"

Dale shook his head.

"Ronodin," said Seth. "It had to be him! I mean, it's so obvious!"

"But Seth," said Grandma. "How could Ronodin even gain access to the preserve? Bracken and the others did a scan of the property just yesterday."

"I don't know. But he clearly found a way."

"Something doesn't add up, though," said Kendra. "Ronodin wanted Seth. If he had the means to get onto the preserve, why go after the fairies?"

"Perhaps he was unable to get into the house," replied Grandpa. "It's the most secure area within the entire preserve. And if he couldn't get into the house where Seth was, he may have taken the fairies. Perhaps as vengeance, or some sort of _consolation_ prize."

"It doesn't seem like a ransom to me, though" said Mrs. Sorenson. "We don't have any way of getting in contact with Ronodin, so how would he expect us to do so?"

"What about those poor fairies?" asked Kendra. "If they're really not at Fablehaven, where are they?"

"Look, we don't know for sure if the fairies are even gone," said Warren. "Maybe they're just hiding elsewhere because of all the commotion that's been going on. Dale, you sound like you got worked up way too fast."

"If you think you think you can find them, be my guest, Warren," said Dale, frowning at his brother.

"If the fairies aren't in the garden, where are they?" asked Ingrid. "Where should we even start looking for them?"

At that moment, a brilliant idea manifested inside Kendra's head. "I've got it!" she exclaimed. "Why run around everywhere trying to find the fairies? I can just seek them out using the Oculus!"

Dale smacked his head. "You're right! I was so worked up trying to solve the problem my way, I never even considered that. Thanks!"

"The Oculus should be in the cabinet," said Grandpa.

"Got it," said Kendra, as she walked over to the mahogany cabinet that stood against a side wall of her grandparents' bedroom.

The cabinet was where the family stored many of their magical tools, such as the artifacts, when they were not being used. As an extra, magical precaution, the cabinet could only be opened by a select few authorized individuals. Being one of them, Kendra swung open the door to the cabinet. Resting upon the shelves were all five of the artifacts, along with both invisibility gloves. Vasilis, currently in its sheath, was also hanging from a rack built into the inside of the door.

Kendra grabbed the Oculus from the cabinet, then walked over to a plush chair in the corner of the room and sat down.

"Okay," said Grandpa. "Hopefully this works, and there's not some inexplicable reason that will prevent it from succeeding."

"Don't jinx it, Stan," said Warren.

"Sorry, but this wouldn't be the first time."

"I guess I'll just go for it," said Kendra.

"Take your time, Kendra," said Grandma. "Just start by envisioning one single fairy from the garden that you recognize."

"Like, Passion, Larissa, or Goldenrod," said Ingrid. "We see them plenty."

"Got it," said Kendra. "Let me focus."

Clenching the Oculus in her hands, Kendra closed her eyes and began to focus her mind on Passion. Kendra knew full well what the young fairy looked like. She sported long, scarlet hair, and wore a pink dress. Her wings were a brilliant shade of red, each of which was shaped like half of a heart.

Suddenly, a vibrant figure appeared before Kendra. It was indeed Passion, and she looked as though she had been immobilized. Like she was caught within something, and was unable to free herself.

"I see her!" exclaimed Kendra. "I don't know what's going on, but I think she's in trouble!"

"Trouble?" asked Grandma. "Oh no. Where is she?"

"Let me look more carefully," said Kendra. Continuing to focus on Passion, Kendra could see as more and more fairies, all of which were ones whom she recognized from the garden, appeared around her. Like Passion, they too all appeared to be struggling and squirming, and they were all being pressed together somehow. Kendra couldn't count them all, but there were probably at least one-hundred.

"I see lots of fairies!" said Kendra. "Possibly all of them. They all seem to be stuck!"

"Okay, okay!" gasped Grandpa. "Where the hell are they?"

Kendra backed her viewpoint away from the fairies, passing back through a small hole in what could best be described as a large net, that was holding all the fairies together, keeping them constrained. If Kendra had to harbor a guess, each and every hole within the net was no more than a few millimeters wide.

Wanting to know more, Kendra backed her view away from the net. What she saw caused her jaw to drop.

"Kendra, what is it?" asked Ingrid.

Without answering, Kendra saw that the net was being held in the talon of a large dragon, which sported orange, almost rust-like in color, scales. Large enough to rival the likes of Navarog, Kendra noticed that the dragon had wings along the side of its body, rather than its back, and no arms. In actuality, it was a wyvern.

The wyvern was flying through the sky somewhere. Kendra didn't know who this wyvern was, or where it was going, but she was determined to find out. Wanting to get a closer look at the wyvern, Kendra brought her view in towards the massive beast's head.

Before Kendra could take a good look at the head of the wyvern, she discovered Ronodin, who was sitting upon its back and between its wings, at the base of its neck.

"It's Ronodin!" cried Kendra. "He riding on some huge wyvern, and the wyvern's got the fairies trapped in some sort of net."

"No!" muttered Dale. "But... how?"

"I don't know," said Grandpa. "But at least Kendra was able to track the fairies, which led us to Ronodin."

"What's this wyvern like?" asked Warren.

"It's got orange, almost metallic-looking scales," said Kendra, who then noticed a second person, who was sitting upon the wyvern's back behind Ronodin. "Hold on! There's someone else that's with Ronodin! I'm going to check it out."

"Who?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

Disregarding her father's question, Kendra directed her view towards the figure. At first, the unknown figure appeared to be a black woman whom she did not recognize. As her viewpoint moved closer, Kendra saw the that woman sported vibrant purple hair and wore a sparkly, silver dress. Kendra then noticed that the woman bore a set of wings, each of which resembled a tremble clef.

"A fairy!" cried Kendra. "There's a fairy with Ronodin!"

"What are you getting at?" asked Seth. "You just told us that Ronodin has a whole ransom's worth of fairies with him!"

"This is different! There's this other fairy who's full-sized and not in the net! She riding atop the wyvern alongside Ronodin!"

"Do you recognize the fairy?" asked Grandpa. "Full-sized or not, is it one from Fablehaven?"

"I don't recognize this fairy."

"What does she look like?" asked Dale.

"Purple hair..." replied Kendra. "Dark skin. Wings that look like treble clefs."

Everyone else in the room shook their heads and shrugged.

"That's not a fairy _I'm_ familiar with," said Dale.

"This is too much," said Seth. "The fairies are gone, and now we find out that not only does Ronodin have them, but he's taking them somewhere with an adult wyvern and some other full-sized fairy?"

"Looks that way," said Kendra. "I don't know who this wyvern or fairy even are."

"What are we going to do?" asked Ingrid.

"First, we need to know where in the world they even are," said Grandpa. "Or at least, where they're headed. Kendra, do you mind trying to pinpoint their current position?"

"Will do," said Kendra, as she reoriented her view so that she was looking down at the wyvern from above, as it soared across the clouds below. Keeping her view fixated on the wyvern, Kendra backed away from it, rising up and further.

As she retreated further and further away from the wyvern as she rose upwards, Kendra could make out nothing but an ocean far below the clouds. As vast as the oceans were, they were not endless, meaning that Kendra would eventually spot a landmass if she backed far enough away.

Having zoomed out her perspective by an indeterminable number of miles, Kendra was able to make out several islands situated in the water down below. Uncertain as to what islands they actually were, Kendra continued to retreat further and further away from the Earth, until she was practically in outer space.

At last, Kendra could see that the islands had actually been those of the Caribbean, now that she could see the southern part of Florida to the north and Mexico way over to the west.

"I found where they are," said Kendra. "They're flying south over the Caribbean."

"The Caribbean?" asked Grandpa. "Where over the Caribbean?"

"Near the Bahamas, I think."

"How do we deal with them?" asked Ingrid.

"Right now?" asked Grandpa. "Don't. I don't know what that full-sized fairy is capable of, but it would be foolish to go after and take on a warlock and a full-sized dragon in mid-flight high above the ocean. Especially if all those fairies are in that net."

"Then what _should_ we do?" asked Seth.

"Ronodin is going to land eventually. We don't know where that will be, so it's best we just wait it out."

"What about the fairies?" asked Kendra, as she opened her eyes, allowing her perspective to return to her own set of eyes. "What's Ronodin going to do to them?"

Grandpa shook his head. "I don't know. I'm very shaken by this whole ordeal. Unfortunately, our best course of action would be to wait for Ronodin to land. As long as you are able to locate the fairies, you can locate Ronodin."

"What I want to know is, how did Ronodin get the fairies out of Fablehaven?" asked Warren.

"Wish I knew," said Dale.

"You think he could have found a way onto the preserve somehow?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "Even with all the safeguards that have been set up?"

"It's not impossible," said Grandpa."

"I'm going to contact Bracken about this," said Kendra.

"Good idea," said Grandma.

"I'd check the barriers of Fablehaven myself," said Warren, "but I don't have the capacity to really do anything about them."

Kendra got up from her seat, left the room and scurried up to the attic, where she grabbed Bracken's coin off of her dresser.

"Bracken!" exclaimed Kendra. "All the fairies are missing from Fablehaven! Please come now! It's an emergency."

There was a pause, as Kendra stared at coin.

" _Kendra?_ " said Bracken through the coin. " _What happened?_ "

"You need to come to Fablehaven now!" cried Kendra. "I'll explain everything."

" _Okay. I'll be there in five minutes._ "

Kendra went back downstairs and into her grandparents' room.

"Bracken's on his way," said Kendra. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

The family wasted no time in getting dressed, then gathered together in the living room, except for Dale, who had to attend to his chores. Before long, someone was knocking at the front door

"Come in," said Grandpa.

Bracken magically appeared in the living room, breathing heavily. He appeared to look quite distraught and flush.

"I got here as fast as my hooves could carry me," said Bracken, as she sat down on the couch next to where Kendra was sitting. "And you weren't kidding. The fairies really are gone. What happened?"

The family explained to Bracken how Dale noticed that the fairies were missing, which led to Kendra searching for and finding them by way of the Oculus, as well as Ronodin, the wyvern and the mystery fairy.

"This is awful," muttered Bracken. "If I had been residing at Fablehaven, instead of the Fairy Kingdom, this never would have happened."

"This is not your fault, Bracken," said Grandma. "You did everything you could to ensure that no one would trespass onto Fablehaven. Whatever Ronodin did had to have been unimaginable."

"But... how?"

"That's what I'd like to know," said Warren. "If he's breached the barrier around Fablehaven somehow, it needs to be reinstated ASAP. Or else, anyone could potentially pass in or out as they please."

"I understand," said Bracken.

"We need you to check it out. We're not positive if the barrier has been broken or not."

"Okay. If I need backup, I'll send for more fairy angels."

Bracken and Warren both stood up and made their way out of the living room.

"What about us?" asked Seth.

"I don't really require your help for this, Seth," said Bracken, as he poked his head around the living room doorway. "Warren and I are just going to fly around the border of Fablehaven on Skyfrost and Firesquall. I need to make sure that everything is as it should be. "

"Fine," grumbled Seth, as Bracken and Warren made their way towards the back of the house, then exited through the back door.

"What can we do now?" asked Kendra.

"It's still very early for us," said Grandpa. "You're welcome to go back to sleep for a few more hours."

"I can't sleep," said Kendra. "Not after what I saw. I just can't get over it."

The rest of the family all nodded their heads in unison.

"I'm still kinda tired, though," said Seth.

"Have a lie down," said Mrs. Sorenson. "You don't need to sleep. Just try to keep yourself from getting overstimulated."

"I'm kinda feeling a little hungry, though," said Ingrid.

"Me too," added Kendra, who could feel her stomach grumbling.

"I couldn't agree more," said Grandma. "As long as everyone's up, I might as well get started on an early breakfast. I know Warren and Bracken are going to want something when they get back. Any suggestions?"

"I don't care," said Seth. "I'm too upset right now."

"How about chocolate chip pancakes? With butterscotch sauce?"

Seth sighed. "Fine."

"Cheer up, Seth," said Kendra. "I'm just as upset as you are. But you can't let it drag you down. As bad as it was that the fairies got kidnapped, we can now use them to help us locate Ronodin. Not only will we be able to rescue them, but we can deal with Ronodin as well."

Seth smiled. "You have a point, Kendra. "And Grandma, be sure to use _a lot_ of chocolate chips in the pancake batter."


	18. Southbound

**Chapter 18: Southbound**

After roughly half an hour had passed, Bracken and Warren both returned to the house. They were just in time to sit down at the breakfast table as Grandma brought a large plate full of steaming hot chocolate chip pancakes into the dining room, which she set down on the table.

Both Bracken and Warren were displaying blank looks on their faces. The two of them also appeared to be disinterested in eating breakfast.

"What happened?" asked Grandpa. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing," replied Bracken. "The barrier is still intact, so nothing managed to penetrate it."

"Well, that's good news, isn't it?" asked Seth.

"Not entirely," said Warren. "If the barrier is still intact, it means that Ronodin was able to bypass it some other way. Or that he broke through it, abducted the fairies, then sealed it back up again to cover his tracks.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Bracken. "All of our other enemies... no matter how much grief these caused us, at least their actions made some sort of sense. But this... this just has me stumped."

"None of us are happy about this," said Grandma. "But at least eat something. No point in fretting on an empty stomach."

"How Ronodin got the fairies remains a mystery," said Bracken. "And it worries me deeply."

"We also told Skyfrost and Firesquall about the wyvern that Ronodin was riding atop of," said Warren, as he grabbed two pancakes off of the large plate.

"How'd they take it?" asked Seth.

"They resented it," replied Warren, who proceeded to drench his pancakes by pouring a large spoonful of butterscotch atop of them. "Of course, after living with Revlogg all those years, they're used to the idea that other wyverns can be... unpleasant."

After the family ate breakfast together, Kendra and Bracken both went outside and began to walk around in the garden. Normally bustling with fairies throughout the day, this morning the garden was irregularly calm and quiet. A few bees and butterflies could be seen fluttering among the flowers, but there was no sign of any fairies at all.

"This is awful," said Kendra, turning her head down towards the flagstone path that ran throughout the garden. "All the fairies are gone."

"If I had been with the fairies last night, this never would have happened," said Bracken. "It's my fault."

"Don't say that, Bracken."

"It _is_ my fault. I'm the ambassador of fairies at Fablehaven, just like Bright and Clover used to be. And what do _I_ do every night? I return to my home in the Fairy Kingdom. And why?"

Kendra winced. "Because it's your home. Nobody's blaming you for this. Whatever happened wasn't something any of us could've predicted."

"I'm sorry," said Bracken. "But after spending an eternity trapped as a prisoner in the dungeon at Living Mirage, it just made me homesick. When I finally got back home to the Fairy Kingdom, I barely wanted to leave it, especially for long periods of time."

"I remember," said Kendra. "It's partially why you stayed to help rebuild your kingdom and those shrines, while we were off dealing with the likes of Navarog, Oblivion and Hespera."

"Yet to this day, I still find myself returning to the Fairy Kingdom every night, whenever it's possible."

"But why?"

"I can't explain. It's just something I yearn for. I guess I'm just worried that one day I'll get locked out of the Fairy Kingdom somehow, and I'll never make it home again."

"Bracken, don't think like that. Please."

"It's an innate fear. It's not going to go away just because I want it to."

"I wish it would," said Kendra.

"If I didn't have it, there might still be fairies fluttering around us right now."

"Bracken, who's to say that the fairies would've been safe even if you _had_ been here? Even you would've been asleep during... whatever it was that Ronodin did to seize the fairies. What Ronodin did, nobody could've seen it coming. There's plenty of security and safeguards here at Fablehaven already."

"And it only worries me," said Bracken. "Despite everything that's in place, Ronodin _still_ managed to get a hold the fairies."

"I know. He's not the kind of guy to be taken lightly. He seems to be a genuine threat."

"I'm worried, though. Not only do I only possess one horn, but while I was in Living Mirage, my powers weren't able to grow and flourish. Because of that experience, I'm actually the weakest of my siblings. Even Bright, who's younger than I am. Then there's Ronodin, who has the power of three horns at his disposal. And, he's a warlock to boot. What chance do I stand against a force like that?"

"You're not alone, Bracken," said Kendra. "You do have some pretty incredible allies on your side."

"Ronodin's got that huge wyvern you spoke about. Plus who knows what else. As great as you and the rest of your allies are, we have no idea what Ronodin might have in store for us."

"Maybe we should worry less about dealing with Ronodin, and more about the missing fairies. Maybe there's a way we can get them back without having to fight Ronodin."

"How?" asked Bracken. "You think Ronodin will give the fairies back if we ask him nicely?"

"I'm thinking maybe we could steal them back, somehow. If we can get to the fairies without getting caught, it might be possible to transport them all back here using the Translocator."

"I'm not against it. Seems smarter than confronting Ronodin head on. But what do we do if Ronodin comes back to Fablehaven?"

"We're going to have to increase security here," said Kendra. "At least, have someone actually _watching_ the fairies at all hours of the day. That way, if Ronodin comes back, we'll be ready for him."

Without saying anything, Bracken nodded. He then took in a deep breath and exhaled quite heavily, then turned his head away from Kendra, so that she was unable to see his face. Regardless, Kendra could sense that Bracken was feeling remorseful.

Several hours later, the family ate a rather simple lunch consisting of egg salad sandwiches and lentil soup. After lunch had finished, Grandpa proposed that Kendra should take another look through the Oculus, to see where Ronodin and the others could now be.

As they had done earlier, the family all sat down in the living room together.

Kendra proceeded to pick up the Oculus off of the coffee table, grasped it firmly between her hands and closed her eyes. Last time, she had been able to find the fairies by focusing just on Passion. While the same technique would've invariably worked for other fairies from Fablehaven that she was familiar with, Kendra opted to simply envision Passion in her head a second time.

Surely enough, the red fairy appeared before Kendra. As the world around Passion came into focus, Kendra could see that she and the other fairies were still confined to the net like they had been earlier. Backing away from the fairies, Kendra could see that the net they were in was still being carried through the sky by the same wyvern. Also, not surprisingly, Kendra could see that Ronodin was still riding atop the orange wyvern, accompanied by the mysterious fairy she had seen before.

Wanting to know as to where Ronodin currently was, Kendra reoriented her view so that she was looking down at the wyvern from above. Keeping her vision fixated upon the wyvern, Kendra back away, rising up further and further into the sky, until she was practically in outer space again.

Looking down towards the Earth beneath her, Kendra could see that she was high above South America somewhere. Focusing on where the wyvern had been, Kendra sensed that it was somewhere over the center of the continent. While Kendra was fairly knowledgeable when it came to geography, even she was unsure as to where exactly Ronodin currently was, though she figured it was either Brazil or Bolivia.

"Kendra?" said Grandpa's voice.

Kendra opened her eyes, returning to her to her true perspective of being back in the living room in her own body again.

"Kendra," said Grandma. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Kendra. "And I found where the fairies and everyone are."

"Great!" said Warren, as he tapped the screen of his tablet several times. "Where'd they go?"

"They... haven't exactly landed yet," replied Kendra, watching as everyone else in the room expressed a look of disappointment on their faces. "But I found them, if nothing else. They're still flying south, only now, they're over South America somewhere."

"Where, exactly?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure."

"Just give a rough estimate," said Warren, as he presented his tablet over to Kendra. "Even if it still isn't an opportune time to go after them, we can get an idea as to where they might be going."

Looking over the map of the world that was being displayed on the tablet, Kendra zoomed in towards South America and tapped the screen, setting a marker upon a section of Bolivia.

Warren accepted his tablet back from Kendra, then tapped the screen a few times. "Interesting," he said.

"What's interesting?" asked Seth.

"Where Ronodin is heading," said Warren, as he set the tablet down on the coffee tablet, now with a globe of the world displayed on the screen. "Look at the three markers that are on the screen."

Everyone glanced at the screen, where three markers had been set at select points of the map.

"What about them?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"This first marker is where Fablehaven is," said Warren, pointing to a marker that was set over New England. He then pointed down towards the second marker, which was over the Caribbean.

"And that's where Kendra saw Ronodin when she looked through the Oculus earlier today," said Ingrid. "Above the Caribbean."

"And the third marker is where I saw Ronodin just now," said Kendra. "What are you trying to point out, Warren?"

Using a stylus, Warren drew a line connecting the markers at Fablehaven, the Caribbean and Bolivia. "They've been traveling in a straight line this entire time. They've been flying directly southbound all along."

"Yeah, so?" asked Seth. "Do you know where they're headed?"

"No idea," said Warren, shaking his head. "I just through it was interesting that they've been flying to the immediate south this entire time."

"I wonder where they're heading," said Bracken. "Not that I know too much about the geography of this world. But when you're flying somewhere, it makes sense to fly the most direct route possible. There isn't much in the way of traffic or other obstructions up in the sky."

"He's gotta land eventually," said Seth. "You guys have been to Rio Branco before. We could always travel there as a shortcut. I know that's it's in Brazil, and South America is probably a lot larger than it looks on this map."

"It is," said Warren. "And we may have to do just that. "I haven't been to South America very much. Heading to Rio Branco might be the best course of action."

"Once Ronodin finally lands, of course" said Grandpa. "Whenever that happens."

" _Wherever_ that happens," noted Warren.

For the remainder of the day, the family helped out with various chores both in the house and around the property, then spent their free time either hanging around outside, doing chores around the house, reading, or playing games.

Eventually, the family ate a dinner consisting of homemade hamburgers, grilled on the barbeque, and freshly-sliced potato wedges. As simple as the meal was, everyone agreed that it was still scrumptious. Once dinner was finished, the family gathered in the living room once again.

"It's been several hours now," said Grandpa. "They wouldn't just keep flying forever and ever."

"True," said Dale. "Wyverns can fly for hours at a time, but even they need to stop and rest every so often."

"Give it a go, Kendra," said Warren, as Kendra proceeded to pick up the Oculus from the coffee table.

Clenching the Oculus firmly in her hands. Kendra did what she had done previously, and envisioned Passion in her mind. Within seconds, the red fairy suddenly appeared before her eyes.

As Passion came into view, Kendra saw as the world around her also started to materialize. However, what Kendra witnessed was different than what she had seen during her previous searches.

Passion, along with all the other fairies, were not being scrunched together in a net. Rather, they were all standing around on some sort of metal flooring.

"This is weird," said Kendra. "I found the fairies, but they're not in that net anymore."

"Where, then?" asked Seth.

Kendra looked around at the area where the fairies had all gathered around. They appeared to be in some sort of enormous room, almost like a cage, the holes of which were too small for any of the fairies to slip through. It reminded Kendra strongly of an aviary.

"They're in some kind of enclosure. Must be protected somehow, or surely they'd break out. They aren't flying around or anything. They're just standing around. They look really sad."

"Where _is_ this enclosure?" asked Grandpa.

Kendra shifted her viewpoint so that she moved outside of the enclosure. It appeared to be in located at the edge of a forest. Immediately, Kendra noticed something highly unusual. Above the trees, there was no sky. Instead, there was what appeared to be the ceiling of incredibly vast cave stretched out over the forest. Large, glowing rocks, which were likely sun stones, that had presumably been embedded in the ceiling, appeared to be proving a light source for the area.

"This is incredible," said Kendra. "It's like some sort of underground forest or something."

"Underground _forest_?" asked Mr. Sorenson.

"Yeah. It's really strange, but fascinating at the same time. It's like Valhale, only there's no ice or community."

Kendra continued to study the area. The enclosure was in a clearing, where there was also a large house. Kendra was unsure how old the house actually was, although the architecture implied that it was probably built at some point before the Great Depression.

" _What is this place?"_ Kendra thought to herself, surveying the forest, where she soon spotted the large wyvern, now lying down in another area of the clearing where the fairies were being held. The wyvern now appeared to be alone, as there was no sign of Ronodin or the strange fairy.

Intrigued by the house, Kendra directed her viewpoint towards it, passing through a window and into one of the rooms. Seemingly the living room, Kendra saw that it contained but a single couch, along with other various pieces of furniture. But the room itself was empty.

Kendra moved out of the living room and passed into the next room. It was the dining room, and sitting at one end of the table was Ronodin. The unknown fairy was sitting across from him at the other end. Both of them had plates full of turkey, green beans and mashed potatoes.

"I found Ronodin and the fairy," said Kendra. "They're inside the house, eating dinner."

"Good," said Grandpa. "At least we know where to find him."

"Not quite," said Warren. "We still don't know where this _place_ even is."

"I'll find out," said Kendra. She advanced through a window and returned to the outside. Or underground, given that the area was contained within one large cavern.

Kendra moved her perspective around the forest, passing over the treetops. She noticed a trail that passed through the trees, leading to the clearing where the house was. Intrigued, Kendra followed the trail, which winded its way through the forest, ultimately leading to a tunnel that led into one of the cavern walls.

Kendra entered the tunnel, which started to slope upwards on a gradual incline. The tunnel appeared to be quite long, but thanks to the magic of the Oculus, Kendra was able to increase her speed.

After about a mile, Kendra finally emerged the exit of the tunnel and had returned to the outside world. Snow was _everywhere_. The land was covered in a thick layer of it, including the surrounding hills and cliffs that she could see in the distance.

"I'm out of the cave," said Kendra. "And there's snow everywhere!"

"Are you sure this isn't Valhale?" asked Seth. "I mean, you _did_ give them all those trees."

"I doubt it," said Kendra. "Besides, they were flying south, and Valhale is to the north, in Greenland.

"You better find out where this place actually is," said Grandma.

"I'm on it," said Kendra.

Looking back at the hole that lead underground, Kendra positioned herself so that she was directly above it, looking down. She then began to rise high into the air. The land was covered in snow in every direction, not really showing Kendra any distinguishable landmarks.

Once Kendra had risen above the sky, she could see that essentially the whole island she had been on was white. Only she realized that this was no ordinary island. It was a whole continent.

"Antarctica," said Kendra. "That's where Ronodin is. Antarctica. Why didn't I see it sooner?"

"Antarctica?" asked Ingrid. "Since when are there underground forests in Antarctica? Or anywhere, for that matter?"

"Girls," said Grandpa. "I think I know what this place that Kendra has seen is. It's a preserve."

"A preserve?" asked Seth.

"Yes," one of two Antarctic preserves. "The underground one. Intel of the Knights of the Dawn had informed me that it was one of the preserves overturned by the Society of the Evening Star. Of course, with them out of the picture, and given the preserve's remote location, it would appear that Ronodin may have made it his home."

"What preserve is this?" asked Ingrid.

"The underground preserve in Antarctica?" asked "Grandpa. It goes by the name of World's End."

"Fitting name," said Seth, as he clasped his hands together. "Cuz I'm willing to go to the end of the Earth to get back at Ronodin."


	19. World's End

**Chapter 19: World's End**

Having discovered that Ronodin was now hiding out in the abandoned preserve that had once been known as World's End, Kendra made sure to mark the location down on Warren's tablet nonetheless. Grandpa then went over some notes he had, and surely enough, the coordinates that he had of the antarctic preserve corresponded with the spot that Kendra had pinpointed on the digital map.

"It's a good thing we've been to Antarctica before," said Seth, who had already changed into a long-sleeved shirt and was now slipping a navy blue sweater on over it.

"You've told me about it," said Ingrid. "It was before we met, though. I did go to the North Pole when Zavarok sacrificed himself, though."

"The South Pole's much different," said Kendra. "Antarctica's an actual landmass, not a series of ice floats."

"At least this isn't going to take too long," said Seth, as Warren shook his head.

"Didn't you look at the map, Seth?" asked Warren. "World's End may be far from here, but it's by no means directly at the South Pole."

"Exactly," said Grandpa. "Antarctica is larger than Europe. Even though there aren't really any points of interest, and it's at the bottom of the globe, Antarctica is a lot larger than most people give it credit for."

"It's gonna take at least two hours to fly to World's End from the South Pole," said Warren. "And then once we're there, we've gotta deal with Ronodin."

"Only too true," said Grandma. "Are you folks all packed up and everything?"

"Seems like it," said Kendra. "We've got our gear and we've changed into warmer clothing."

"All that's left now are our jackets," said Ingrid.

"Better put 'em on now," said Warren, as he slipped an arm through the sleeve of his winter jacket.

"Take care of yourselves," said Mr. Sorenson, as Kendra, Seth and Ingrid all threw on their jackets as well.

"Normally, I'd be worried at the idea of my children heading down to Antarctica to enter the domain of a powerful warlock," said Mrs. Sorenson. "In fact, two years ago, I'd have thought the idea was laughable. But, you _are_ Knights of the Dawn. I have complete faith in all of you."

"Thank you," said Warren. "We won't let you down."

Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Bracken all grabbed their gear and made their way to the back of the house. All bundled up underneath layers of thick winter clothing, Kendra and Seth could already feel their bodies starting to absorb an excessive amount of warmth from inside the house. Even with their jackets not zipped up, the heat was starting become unbearable.

As the group passed through the back door and made their way outside, they found that the air was only mildly cooler than it had been indoors. Not wanting to delay their trip any longer than necessary, Kendra, Seth, Ingrid and Warren all made their way over towards the dragon cave at the end of the yard.

"You guys look seriously prepared for something," said Skyfrost, as he and the other dragons slowly approached the entrance to their cave.

"I found where everyone is," said Kendra. "They're at World's End, an underground preserve in Antarctica."

"Antarctica?" asked Raxtus. "Warren, we've been there before, remember?"

Warren nodded. "Sure do. But this time, we're gonna have to venture into enemy territory."

"Enemy territory?" asked Firesquall. "Us? Sounds like what we're always getting ourselves into."

"Cool," said Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both slammed their tails together.

"What's the plan, exactly?" asked Geminus.

"We can use the Translocator to get to the South Pole," said Bracken. "From there, we fly to World's End and hopefully, we'll be able to rescue the fairies that are being held captive and get out of there."

"That adult wyvern you said Ronodin was on," said Raxtus. "Is it..."

"Still there," said Kendra.

"This is _not_ going to be easy," sighed Geminus.

"It wasn't actually guarding the fairies, though."

"That's the one advantage we have," said Bracken. "Ronodin may or may not know about Oculus. So it's hard to say if he's expecting us. If we can get into World's End and just avoid Ronodin and his allies, we should be in the clear."

"Is Vanessa going to be okay while we're gone?" asked Ingrid.

"She'll be fine," replied Geminus. "She's sleeping right now, and Dale always makes sure to check on her whenever we're out on missions."

"That's good," said Warren. "If everyone's ready, we can head down the South Pole now."

"I guess we're ready as we'll ever be," said Seth, watching as Warren removed the Translocator from his bag and then proceeded to place a gloved hand on top of the artifact.

Once everyone had made contact with the Translocator, Warren twisted it, hurling the entire group through the very fabric of space. An instant later, everyone found that they were no longer standing by the entrance to the dragons' cave at Fablehaven. Instead, they were now in a landscape that was covered in snow. As they were hit with the shock of cold air, Kendra was already appreciating the warm clothes she was wearing.

"We're here," said Warren. "Antarctica. The South Pole."

"Hey, there's that plaque you mentioned," said Ingrid, as she walked up to where both a flag of the United States and a sign that was titled "Geographic South Pole" were standing.

Behind the sign was the barber pole that symbolized the South Pole proper, along with the flags of several other countries, which Kendra knew were all members of the Antarctic Treaty System. Many yards beyond the flags was a low-rise, commercial building, which Kendra recalled was the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

"Careful," said Bracken. "No one get too close to that building. There's no distractor spell at this point."

"Where do we go from here?" asked Seth.

"North sounds good," replied Warren, revealing a guilty smirk on his face.

"Seriously?" asked Kendra.

"Let's see," said Warren, as he thumbed through his tablet. "I should be able to find the way. Hopefully this thing doesn't freeze on me down here. In more ways than one. Ah... okay. We want to go _that_ way."

Everyone looked in the direction that Warren had pointed in. To be fair, Warren _was_ pointing north. But given their current location, any direction could correspond as north.

"Okay," said Raxtus, as Kendra and Bracken climbed up onto his back. "Guess we're going _that_ way."

Once the dragons' respective riders had all been seated upon their backs, they took off into the air, heading in the direction that Warren had pointed in.

The countryside of Antarctica was unmistakably barren. Every square inch of the mostly flat ground appeared to be covered in a thick blanket of snow. There were a few small boulders and inclines set within the ground, where sections of ice were visible beneath them.

As the rather uneventful flight continued, the sky only seemed to get darker as the sun advanced further and further away from whatever direction they were heading in. Kendra wished to herself that the Antarctic landscape didn't have to be so bland, if only so that she could have something to look at to keep her mind off the cold temperature she was being forced to endure.

After what felt like an eternity, Firesquall increased his speed and veered towards the front of the group. Turning to face the group behind him, Warren then held up his arms and flailed them back and forth, prompting the other dragons to slow down.

"I think we're almost there," said Warren. "Be ready."

"You think there's a distractor spell around it?" asked Ingrid.

"Wouldn't surprise me," said Bracken. "Though there would've been one that was implemented when World's End was still in operation, it probably petered out after the preserve was overturned by the society. But... I wouldn't put it past Ronodin to have reinstated a new distractor spell since then."

"What's Ronodin doing all the way down here anyway?" asked Seth.

"Well, think about it," said Kendra. "There's nobody here in Antarctica, so that automatically grants Ronodin with a lot of privacy."

"No neighbors for miles and miles," noted Warren.

"And then there's the World's End preserve," said Bracken. "Already an established habitat where creatures from warmer climates can thrive down here. Since it's such a hassle for most people to come all the way to Antarctica from the rest of the world, restoring the preserve was relegated to a low priority for Knights of the Dawn, and for fairies, who would in turn be reestablishing the preserve's lost shrine.

"Getting back to the distractor spell," said Geminus, "perhaps it's best if Raxtus and I take the lead, so nobody gets thrown off. Skyfrost and Firesquall, hold on to our tails. We'll take it from here."

"Agreed," said Raxtus.

Raxtus and Geminus then soared ahead of Skyfrost and Firesquall. The wyverns then advanced towards the fairy dragons, flying talons first and using them to clasp onto Raxtus and Geminus' tails. With the wyverns now gripping onto them, Raxtus and Geminus soared onward, towing Skyfrost and Firesquall along with them.

"Brace yourselves," said Bracken. "Especially if you aren't immune to distractor spells. Just close your eyes and hold on to... whatever you're already holding on to, and don't let go!"

Knowing that it was safe for her to look, Kendra watched as the dragons continued to fly onward. Before long, she could see a wide, almost horizontal hole in snow, that seemed to extend underneath the ground.

"There!" exclaimed Kendra. "That must be it!"

"Are you sure?" asked Ingrid, who was struggling to keep her eyes closed, with her body still gripped to Geminus.

"Ingrid," said Geminus. "You stay with me! I'm here to protect you."

"Do I really need to keep my eyes closed?" asked Seth, who was shielding himself from any form of sight. "I don't feel any different."

"Might be an effect of you being angelkind," said Warren, who was fighting to keep his eyes shut. "Still, I don't know if you should try it out right here and now. We don't understand the full extent of your abilities."

The dragons then flew down into the hole. Now that she was here to see it in person, Kendra marveled at the actual width of the hole. It was immense! It seemed wide enough for a large fishing boat to fit through. Or a full-grown wyvern, wingspan and all.

With ample space around them, Kendra watched as the vast tunnel slowly began to descend downwards. Once they went deep enough, there was no snow to be found on the ground, ceiling or walls of the tunnel, just smooth ice.

After about a minute or so of flying down the descending tunnel, the dragons had eventually reached the end. Intrigued by what they saw, both Raxtus and Geminus came down for a landing on the ground at bottom of the tunnel.

Situated just beyond the edge of the tunnel, no more than thirty feet away, was the grassy, underground forest that Kendra had seen earlier through the Oculus. Now that she was there in person, Kendra could truly marvel in awe at the wonder that stood before her. The trees that she could see were a combination of both evergreen and deciduous, although she did not know their specific genera.

"Are we there, yet?" asked Seth.

"Open your eyes," said Geminus. "I think we're past the distractor spell at this point."

Seth, along with everyone else, opened up his eyes. Unable to believe the sight that stood before him, Seth almost thought to himself that they were no longer in Antarctica, given the lush plant life that lay ahead. He then gazed up at the ceiling of the immense, cavernous room that housed the World's End preserve. Just like Kendra had described earlier, there were large sun stones embedded within the rocky ceiling, providing the area with a perpetual light source.

"This place is incredible," said Warren.

"It's really warm down here, though," said Ingrid reminding the other humans of the lukewarm temperature that had taken everyone by surprise, prompting them to unzip their jackets and remove their gloves, hats and scarves.

"It's darker down here than I remember," said Kendra, observing her surroundings. "Even with those sun stones above us."

"The luminescence of sun stones can be adjusted if one knows what they're doing," said Bracken. "Since it's late in the evening now, the sun stones are probably set to give off minimal light, in order to give off the illusion of twilight."

"That's pretty cool, actually," said Ingrid.

"Yeah, it's fascinating," said Seth, who was not very enthused at the whole lighting situation that was being discussed. "But, where do we go from here?"

"We can just follow this path," said Kendra, pointing to a dirt road that started at the edge of the tunnel and led into the trees, where it ultimately disappeared into the forest.

"Kendra," said Geminus, "where did you say that wyvern you saw was?"

"It was not far from the house, where I'm sure this trail will lead us to."

"Then we'd best not fly," said Raxtus. "Even though I can turn invisible, the rest of you aren't quite as resourceful, to say the least."

"Yeah," said Skyfrost. "Us wyverns have incredible eyesight. If we go anyone where it could potentially spot us..."

"We'd be doomed," said Firesquall. "It'd be Revlogg all over again."

"Maybe we ought to stick to the ground," said Warren. "Just to be safe."

With their riders still seated upon their backsides, the four dragons proceeded to walk down the dirt road and advanced into the forest. The experience almost reminded Kendra of the driveway back home at Fablehaven. The difference here was that instead of it leading to the home of her family, it would instead bring her, along with the rest of her group, to the home of an enemy.

"I'm kinda worried that some unknown monsters are going to jump out at us from behind one of these trees," said Ingrid.

"I didn't notice any other monsters when I looked through the Oculus," said Kendra. "Just that wyvern."

"Well, this preserve was abandoned after being overturned by the Society," said Warren. "All of the creatures living here that could be recovered were transferred to other preserves. But, since there was no one at World's End to guard the place in the interim, Ronodin no doubt came in and took over."

"So, you're saying this place is pretty much empty?" asked Ingrid.

"Possibly," said Warren. "Not counting what Kendra saw, to say the least."

The dragons continued to walk through the forest. The atmosphere felt so authentic, Kendra kept having to remind herself that they were not above ground in a warm climate, but in an antarctic cavern.

After a brisk walk down the path through the forest, the group emerged in a clearing. They found that they were now in the yard of World's End. In the middle of it was the house that Kendra had seen Ronodin and the other fairy inside of.

"That's it," said Kendra. "That's the house I saw. Ronodin is probably inside right now."

Seth looked around and saw, not too far from the house, the enclosure that Kendra had spoken of. Light in all the colors of the rainbow was glowing from within it.

"Are the fairies in there?" asked Seth, pointing to the enclosure.

"Unfortunately," said Kendra.

"But that's why we're here," said Warren. "We're going to liberate them."

"Okay," said Bracken. "But we'd better stay out of sight as best we can. Let's get back behind these trees and work our way around to the enclosure."

The dragons all retreated into the forest and made their way around the edge of the yard, until they had reached the closest point to the enclosure, which was now between their current position and the house.

Kendra climbed down from Raxtus, prompting Seth and the other riders to do the same from the dragons they were riding atop of. Kendra then scurried up to the enclosure, which was a good twenty feet tall.

Peering through the narrow bars of the enclosure, Kendra could see all of the fairies that belonged at Fablehaven inside of it, all standing at the bottom. She watched as the fairies all looked up at her, and began fluttering around in excitement.

"It's Kendra!" exclaimed the fairies. "It's really her!"

"She's here to help us!" cried one fairy.

"Save us!" pleaded another. "Please!"

"It's okay," said Kendra, as her allies walked up alongside her. "We're here to help. Poor things. You don't deserve to be cooped up like this."

"We'll get them out," said Seth. "Where's the door to this thing?"

"Over there," said a fairy, as she and several others all pointed towards a door on the other side of the enclosure, facing the house.

"It won't open," said another fairiy, as the group made their way around to the front of the enclosure.

"The door," said Bracken, observing the entrance to the enclosure. "It's been sealed magically. I don't know if I'm powerful enough to dispel it. The only surefire way to open this thing is to use brute force."

"Leave that to us," said Firesquall. "Come on, Seth. Let's blast this door with fire!"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Seth, as he removed the Pyruby from his bag.

"If he were smart, he never _would_ have asked," said a familiar voice from behind the group.

Everyone turned around and saw that Ronodin had been standing behind them. The entire group froze.

"Ronodin," gasped Bracken.

"I'm sorry," said the warlock, "but what do you think you're doing here?"

"Taking back the fairies _you_ stole from Fablehaven!"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that." said Ronodin, narrowing his brow, as his staff manifested in his hand.

"He's been consumed by darkness," said Bracken. "Raxtus, Geminus, let him have it!"

Bracken proceeded to blast Ronodin with light from his hands, while Raxtus and Geminus exerted fiery light from their mouth at him. A black aura pulsated from Ronodin's staff, effectively cancelling out the light energy before it could hit him.

"He's too powerful!" said Raxtus, having given up his attack.

"Let's just whoop him," said Firesquall, as smoke flowed out through his nostrils.

"No!" quipped Bracken. "I don't want to harm him. But we can't beat him."

"It's that stupid staff!" said Seth. "We've got to get it away from him somehow!"

"My staff is going nowhere. But as for the rest of you..."

The staff that Ronodin was holding suddenly vanished, and he shot a blast of blue magic at Seth. The blast made Seth feel all tingly, as he found himself now standing by Ronodin's side, feeling somewhat woozy.

"What happened?" asked Seth.

"I just wanted you out of the way," said Ronodin. "Now, for the rest of you..."

"Oh no you don't!" said Warren, drawing his sword.

"Oh yes I do!" said Ronodin, as he directed more blue energy at the entire group, sans Seth.

Seth watched in horror as the blue energy absorbed every other member of his party, and they all suddenly disappeared.

"No!" cried Seth, "What did you do to them?"

"I think someone needs a time out," said Ronodin, as he hit Seth with another blast of energy.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed with exhaustion, Seth could not so much as stand up. He collapsed to the ground and fell sound asleep.


	20. The Deep Freeze

**Chapter 20: The Deep Freeze**

As a blinding flash of blue light suddenly faded, Kendra inexplicably lost control of her own body and stumbled down into a deep blanket of snow.

Unable to see past the small wall of snow that was in front of her eyes, Kendra took a moment to absorb everything that had just happened. A moment ago, Ronodin had blasted her, along with the rest of her allies with some mysterious blue energy.

However, there had been no snow on the ground at that point, but now there was. Pushing down against the snow on the ground with her hands, Kendra propped herself upwards. She saw that she was now outside, in the vast landscape of Antarctica.

As Kendra stood up, she brushed off as much snow that was clinging to her pants, jacket and face that she could. Kendra didn't know why, but it was apparent that Ronodin had magically transported her out of World's End and placed her elsewhere.

Kendra glanced around. There was no sign of any of her other allies to be found at all. Kendra wondered where they could be. After all, they too had been in contact with the magic that Ronodin had used upon her.

That was, everyone in the group, except for Seth. Ronodin had first moved Seth out of the way, as it was obvious that the warlock intended to utilize her brother's powers for some nefarious purpose. But where were the others? They had all been hit with the same spell that brought Kendra to this point. Where were they?

Feeling a chill, Kendra wasted no time in zipping her jacket back up. She then reached into her pockets and pulled out her hat, scarf and gloves which she had removed upon entering World's End, and slipped them all back on.

The first thing Kendra thought about were her allies. She didn't know where any of them were. Glancing around to see if she could find the entrance to World's End, but to no avail, Kendra concluded that she didn't even know where _she_ even was at this point.

"Hello?" shouted Kendra, looking around to see if any of her allies were nearby. She got no response. The land around her was relatively flat in every direction, so if any of them were within her vicinity, it wasn't as though there were too many spots where they could be hiding from her.

"Anybody?" asked Kendra. "Seth? Warren? Ingrid? Bracken? Raxtus? Geminus? Skyfrost? Firesquall? Is anybody here?"

Kendra received no response. Thinking back, Kendra realized that her brother wouldn't be here at all, given that Ronodin had made sure not to transport him away. Still, as she had known Seth far longer than any of the others, it was only instinctive for her to call out for him first.

" _Kendra,"_ said Bracken, whose voice sound somewhat faint and muffled. _"Kendra, are you there?"_

It was Bracken, speaking to her through his coin, which she had tucked away in her pant pocket. Her arm trembling in excitement, Kendra reached into her pocket, pulled out the coin and held it up to her face.

"Bracken!" cried Kendra. "It's me! I'm here!"

" _Thank goodness you're all right,"_ said Bracken, whose voice now sounded much clearer.

"Bracken, where are you?"

" _I could ask you the same question. As for me, I don't know."_

"Me neither."

" _Are you alone?"_

"Yeah."

" _Me too. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around from what I can tell. Luckily, I remembered my coin. At least we can communicate through it. You've got a phone, why don't you just call the others?"_

"Yeah, right," said Kendra. "There's no phone signal down here."

" _The great thing about fairy magic is that it doesn't need any fancy technology. Just a link between the two coins."_

"You're not helping. Wait. You just did!"

" _How's that?"_

"You just said the coins are linked. Would you be able to home in on my coin and head towards it?"

" _I could..."_ replied Bracken, _"only, someone on your end would have to enhance your coin first. Otherwise, we're out of luck."_

Kendra sighed.

" _Are you absolutely sure that you're by yourself?"_

Kendra looked at the area around her. Save for the spot where she had initially fallen, as well as the few footprints she had made herself, there were no other signs of life to be found.

"No. I called out for anybody before you contacted me. I'm all alone."

" _I'm sorry. I wish I knew how exactly Ronodin pulled this sort of thing off."_

"You've got to admit, it was clever," said Kendra. "Transporting us all away at once, but to different locations. Where exactly are you, anyway, Bracken?"

" _Somewhere in Antarctica. Outside, though. Though, whether I'm anywhere near World's End or not I have no idea."_

"Same here. And it wouldn't surprise me if the others are all out there as well. Either way, this is awful! Here we are, stranded in Antarctica, while Seth is at the mercy of Ronodin!"

" _At least the dragons can fly,"_ said Bracken. "I could, too. But I want to conserve my power."

"Even still," said Kendra. "How are any of the dragons supposed to find us? They wouldn't know where we are, or even where _they_ are. Bracken, we could die out here!"

Kendra stopped to think about her statement. While it was true the dragons could potentially fly off the continent, the same could not be said for Ingrid and Warren. They too were in just as much trouble as she was. But then she remembered something.

"Warren! He has the Translocator! He can use it to go get help!"

"Of course!" said Bracken. _"Only, how's he, or any help he can get, going to find us? You're the only one who can use the Oculus. And since becoming angelkind, we're not even sure if Seth can still use it. He's never tested it since."_

"I don't know. But at least he's safe. That still leaves me. And Ingrid! Who knows where she is?"

"She can't be too far from here,"said Bracken. _"I mean, how far from World's End could Ronodin have actually sent all of us?"_

"Maybe you're closer than I thought," said Kendra. "If only I could detect you somehow."

" _I can't really signal you if you can't see me."_

"Maybe you _can_ ," said Kendra, as she came to a realization. "People who are lost or stranded sometimes use a flare gun to signal attention. By shooting a flare into the air, people are able to notice it from a distance, and that somebody needs help."

" _Does it have to be a flare?"_ asked Bracken. "Because I've got plenty of light energy."

"Anything bright that can be seen from a distance will work."

" _I'm going to shoot a beam of energy up towards the sky. Hopefully, you or one of the others will notice it and come towards me."_

"Go for it."

" _Can do. I'm just going to transform into my unicorn form, it's better. I'll have to put the coin down, though. Hold on."_

Kendra waited around for a moment. She then heard a shimmering sound flowing out through the coin, indicating that Bracken was using his magic, so she scanned the skies, in hope of being able to find his signal.

Looking around in every direction, Kendra could see nothing but thick, greyish clouds amidst the dark, night sky. Surely Bracken's vibrant, colorful horn beam would stand out against such a dreary backdrop. However, the unicorn's rainbow energy was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't see you!" exclaimed Kendra. "Are you aiming straight up?"

" _Yeah. My power is practically brushing against the bottom of the clouds."_

"Well, I'm not seeing it."

" _Can't say anyone else has notice me either."_

"I've got an idea. Aim your horn upwards. But maybe on a diagonal. Then slowly turn around in circles. Like a searchlight, or a lighthouse."

" _I get it,"_ said Bracken. _"If it'll work for ships, why not my allies? See anything?"_

Once again, Kendra surveyed her surroundings, but was unable to finding any sign of Bracken.

"It's no use," said Kendra. "You're nowhere to be found."

" _Kendra, I need to stop. I'm not at full strength to begin with. And doing this is draining my energy."_

"I understand.

" _Well, I haven't been able to find anyone else by just staying where I am,"_ said Bracken. _"Maybe we just ought to explore the area on foot and see if we can find anybody else."_

"Okay. We can still stay in touch through the coins."

Even though the coin made it sound as though Bracken was right next to her, Kendra couldn't feel any more alone. However, her friend had a point. Standing around in one spot wasn't going to do her any good. Especially since no one else knew where she was, or that they should be out looking for her.

"Any idea where to start?" asked Kendra, as she looked around and tried to decide what direction she should set off in.

" _Kendra, you know I can't help you with that. I'm not even actually with you!"_

"I get it."

" _I'm going to put my coin away for now. But I''ll still be available if you need me. Hopefully, one of us will be able to find help of some nature."_

"Okay," said Kendra, as she slipped her coin back into her pocket. As she did so, part of her felt as though Bracken would no longer be with her, even though hadn't been around physically to begin with.

Not knowing where else to go, Kendra proceeded to walk off in the direction she happened to be facing, wherever it ultimately was.

With every step she took, Kendra could feel her feet sinking up to her shins in snow. The cold, wet snow pressing against her pants kept giving her a chill. As she slowly progressed, bits of snow repeatedly fell into her boots, causing varying areas of her socks to start feeling cold and damp while it quickly melted.

Kendra really wished she wasn't alone right about now. If only one of her dragon allies could be with her at the moment. They could easily fly her to safety. Even Bracken had his own powers which could surely be of use, if he couldn't ultimately help Kendra escape.

And what about her human allies? Warren at least had the Translocator, so he could no doubt save himself. But alas, as she and Bracken had discussed, neither Warren nor anyone else had the slightest clue as to where they should start looking. It was a sign of hope, but not one that Kendra could honestly put very much faith into.

And what about Ingrid? Like Kendra, she had no means of escape, and was essentially in the same predicament. True, she did not possess any supernatural abilities. But given that Kendra couldn't do much in her current situation either, the two of them were pretty much in the same boat. That was, assuming Ingrid was also out in Antarctica somewhere. Ingrid did have the invisibility gloves on her, not that they would be of very much use when there was nobody else around for miles.

The dragons were probably the most fortunate of the bunch, seeing as they could all fly. Even if they couldn't find their way, they at least had their own abilities to further help them deal with their situation. Raxtus and Geminus had magic at their disposal. Skyfrost could endure the harsh, cold temperature. And Firesquall seemed to be the ultimate counter to this whole situation.

Last, but certainly not least, was Seth. He had invariably suffered the worst fate of the bunch. Ronodin had seized him as his prisoner, and was no doubt planning to do something dubious him. She didn't know what Seth could do at this point. He said that he had been unable to utilize his angelic powers the last time Ronodin had kidnapped him. What hope did he have this time? Kendra couldn't help but fear for the worst.

Kendra then remembered that she and her allies _did_ have their relics with them. She quickly reached into her bag and removed the Emerock from it. She then stopped and looked at it, pondering for a moment. Of all the relics, she greatly would have preferred to be in possession of the Pyruby right about now. Still, she could possibly use the Emerock to sprout a tree, then use its wood to start a fire.

Ingrid had the Diavolt. And a lot of use it would be of to her right about now. She couldn't use it as a source of warmth; she would probably electrocute herself in the process. Kendra didn't know where Ingrid actually was at the moment, but either way, she hoped that her sister was safe.

However, Kendra's real concern right now was to try to find help. Part of her felt that the whole attempt was futile. Another part believed that help could be found right around the next bend.

Kendra traipsed through the deep snow for quite a while, looking back at her footprints to make sure that she was continuously moving in a straight line. Not that she knew where she was heading, but at least it ensured that she wouldn't be moving in circles.

It also gave her a bit of hope. Perhaps she might find footsteps belonging to Ingrid. Or perhaps, one of the dragons might notice her trail while in flight, and could follow it to find her. The chances seemed extremely slim, but the slightest semblance of hope was better than having no hope at all.

As Kendra journeyed further, snow started to drift down from the sky. At first, it was only a few scattered flakes. However, it didn't take long for flurries to start building up. Within mere minutes, the intensity of the snow and wind had built up to that of a blizzard.

Kendra wanted to press onward, but the harsh winds and flurries made it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of herself. Not knowing what to do, Kendra pulled out her coin and held it up by her mouth.

"Bracken! A blizzard started up and I'm caught in it."

" _A blizzard?"_ came Bracken's voice through the coin. " _Strange. I'm not caught in any blizzard. Are you okay?"_

"I've endured worse. But I can't really go anywhere like this. I can't see where I am. I'm so cold!"

" _Hang in there! Is there anything you can do for shelter?"_

"I don't know. I can barely see anything in all this snow. Oh, Bracken! It's so cold! My face is feeling all numb!"

" _What do you have on you?"_

"Not much," said Kendra, as she looked through her bag. At that was in it was the Emerock, a first aid kit, and a couple of granola bars. There were also a few bottled potions, none of which she felt would be of any use to her at this point. She was also wearing Vasilis on her back, as she usually did. "I guess I better use the Emerock to start a fire."

Kendra pulled the Emerock out of her bag, then aimed it at the ground. A moment later, the trunk of a young evergreen tree slowly jutted up through the snow. Stopping the tree's growth before it breached a height of five feet, Kendra slipped the Emerock back into her bag. By stopping the tree prematurely, Kendra ensured that harvesting the tree's wood would be easier for her before it became too sturdy.

Grasping one hand on a branch of the tree and the other on the trunk, Kendra proceeded to snap off the branch, then dropped it in the snow by the base of the tree. She then went ahead and tore off a second, slightly thicker branch.

Kendra then sat down in the deep snow, and set the larger of the two branches down in front of her self. Holding the smaller branch between her hands in cylindrical position, she pressed it down against the larger one. Kendra then rubbed her hands together rapidly, spinning the branch back and forth, hoping that the rubbing but be enough to start a fire.

However, there was a huge problem. The branches were wet, and snow was blowing everywhere. What she really need was shelter. She removed the Emerock from her bag once again and aimed it at the ground.

The ground in front of Kendra slowly ripped open, revealing a small, sloping hole. Not much wider than her own body, Kendra crawled into the small, newly-created hole that was only a few feet deep.

At least now she was out of the snow. However, there was a problem. Kendra was still freezing. Snow from the outside was blowing down into the hole.

Kendra crawled out of the hole and grabbed the two sticks, which she proceeded to drop down into her little burrow. She then held out the Emerock and used it to allow the tree to continue growing larger, until it was a full-grown spruce.

Kendra tore off several of the lower branches of the tree, then went back down into her little hole. From within the hole, Kendra positioned the prickly branches over the top of the hole, covering it at best she could. At least now, she had stopped more snow from falling into her hole.

Holding the two sticks in her hands as she sat down, Kendra saw that they were still too damp to consider using to start a fire. On top of that, even if she could start a fire, it was probably too dangerous to do so in a small, enclosed place such as the hole.

On top of everything, Kendra was nearly freezing to death. The cave may have shielded her from the snow, but it was by no means a source of warmth. She pulled off one of her boots, revealing a soaked sock that had been concealed within. Kendra was tempted to remove her sock, but felt that her feet were cold enough as it was.

Kendra emptied out the snow that had accumulated in her boot, then put it back on. She then did the same thing with her other boot.

"Bracken," said Kendra, speaking into the coin, "I feel really cold. And tired. I think I'm fatigued."

" _Kendra! I wish I could help you."_

"I'm cold, Bracken! Cold and scared! I feel like I can barely stay awake. Like I'm dizzy."

" _Kendra! I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Kendra? Kendra!"_

"I'm sorry," said Kendra. "But I need to rest."

Having collapsed from exhaustion, Kendra ignored Bracken's response. She fell back onto the floor of the cave and closed her eyes, tuning out from Bracken's voice.


	21. Trapped

**Chapter 21: Trapped**

His head feeling extremely groggy, Seth unleashed a loud groan. The ground beneath him felt exceptionally soft and comfortable, to the point where if felt almost unnatural.

Seth opened up his eyes and saw that he was no longer outside, assuming that a preserve contained within a massive cavern could technically qualify as being "outside". No. Seth could tell that he was definitely indoors somewhere, and that he was lying down on a plush, twin-sized bed.

The small room he was in was unlit, but a moderate amount of light was seeping its way through the curtain that was currently blocking the window.

Seth got up and slipped out of bed. His mind took a moment to register just what exactly had been going on. A moment ago, Ronodin had magically pulled him in towards him and seemingly caused him to fall asleep almost instantly. Now he had awoken, and appeared to be alone.

Seth wondered what could have conspired between his allies and Ronodin. Did they succeed in rescuing him? Probably not, as if they did, they probably would have awoken him back at Fablehaven. Instead, Seth found that he was alone in an unknown location.

But where was he? Seth stood up and made his way over to the curtain, then pulled it open to reveal the window. Peering out through the glass, Seth could see a large lawn outside, surrounded by a forest on the far side, not unlike the yard back home at Fablehaven. Looking beyond the trees, Seth could see a large stone wall in the distance. Looking upwards, Seth saw that the wall extended up and above trees.

It didn't take long for Seth to conclude that was currently inside the house at World's End. Ronodin had seemingly captured him. Seth wondered what he was going to do. He had to get help. He had to find his friends and family. But where were they?

As though it was instinctive, Seth pulled his phone out of his pocket. Upon glancing at the screen, Seth saw that he had no bars on his signal icon, accompanied by the words "No Service". Of course, it was pretty obvious to Seth that no mobile phone signal that could reach an underground cavern, let alone the barren tundra of Antarctica.

Seth felt around in his pockets for another possession of his. The Pyruby. Only it wasn't there. Seth managed to find his wallet and keys. But the Pyruby was nowhere to be found, even though he was certain that he had brought it along like he always did, ever since first getting it to function properly. But alas, it was gone.

Turning away from the window, Seth could now see the room a bit better due to the light that it was letting in. The room was still considerably dark, but Seth made his way over to the light switch by the door and flicked it on. The room lit up, and Seth was able to properly see the bed, along with a nightstand and a dresser.

Sitting atop the dresser was a tray with several plates. One plate contained a sandwich, another had several slices of cheese, while the last one contained a slice of apple pie. Also on the tray was a glass full of what seemed to be orange juice. Although he was not feeling all that hungry, Seth sniffed the food. Whether it was safe to eat or not, Seth was certain of one thing; it all smelled delicious.

At the other end of the room, opposite from the dresser, was the door. Seth studied the door for a moment, before concluding that it was most likely either locked, or that it was being guarded by somebody on the other side.

Wanting to know for sure, Seth walked over to the door, grasped his hand around the knob and twisted it. He attempted to pull the door open, but found that he was unable to budge it from its position within the doorway. The door was locked.

"Great..." groaned Seth. "I can't get out."

Seth turned around and walked back towards the window. He immediately thought back to the time when Kendra had been kidnapped by the Society of the Evening Star, and was trapped in a bedroom in the house of Torina Barker. Although he had not been there to see for himself, Kendra had claimed that the window in the room she had been confined to had been reinforced with invisible bars.

Of course, the only reason why Torina's bars even were invisible was to not attract attention from anyone who happened to pass by her house. A house located in Monmouth, Illinois that was not protected by any sort of distractor spell.

But as for the house that Seth was currently in? It was located in a subterranean, antarctic preserve. There were no people running around down here to be concerned about in the first place. And even if there were, World's End was protected by a distractor spell. No average Joe was ever going to see the house that Seth was currently in.

Still, invisible bars were a possibility. After all the adventures he had been on, Seth was sure of one thing; to be prepared for anything. He placed his hands on the handles at the bottom of the window and attempted to lift it open. Like the door, the window was also locked.

Seth let go of the handles and studied the window for a latch. Unlike the door to the room, it would be highly unusual for the lock of a window to be located on the outside. But Seth was unable to find anything, despite searching high and low. He attempted to open the window one more time, but found that not only could he not open it, but that it would not budge or wobble around whatsoever. Unlike the door, the window felt as though it had been sealed shut somehow.

Of course, it would not be out of the question to assume that the window had in fact been sealed by magic. Seth figured that he would probably not be able to open it even if he were a bodybuilder.

However, there was one thing that Seth had not yet considered. If he was unable to open the window the normal way, perhaps he could smash open the glass.

Seth contemplated in simply punching the glass. He had always naturally been adept when it came to fighting and protecting himself. And along with the training he had been given since joining the Knights of the Dawn, Seth could really give someone a thrashing if he ever had to.

Only this wasn't a person he was dealing with; this was a window. One that had been protected by magic. If Seth tried to punch the window, he could end up breaking his hand. Punching it didn't seem very smart. He had to find something else to hit the window with.

Seth surveyed the room. There was some furniture, a rug, a lamp, and a small closet. Not much else. He did discover that his bag was lying on the dresser. However all that was in it was a first aid kit. Nothing that would help him escape. After all, he didn't have the Pyruby or his sword on him; presumably, they had been confiscated by Ronodin.

Seth clearly had nothing that he could use to attack the window with, like a hammer or mallet. Or did he? It required a bit of imagination on Seth's part, but he noticed that the nightstand wasn't very large. It was the only piece of furniture small enough for him to be able to pick up. Maybe, just maybe, he could use it to break through the window.

Seth picked up the lamp that was resting on the nightstand, then set it down on the floor. He then checked the drawer contained within it. It was empty. Placing his hands around the sides of the nightstand, Seth lifted it up over his head, holding it in such a way so that the legs of it were facing forward.

Facing the window, the next thing that Seth would need to do would be to charge forward and thrust the nightstand against the window. Hopefully, it would break the glass, and he would be able to escape.

Or would he? Ronodin had spotted the group when they were traipsing around in the yard. It was the whole reason that led to Seth being locked up in the room he was in now. What was to stop Ronodin from finding him outside a second time? Or some other creature?

And what about the rest of his group? What if they were also locked up somewhere too? If Seth even could escape, he didn't know where to find them. And it wasn't like Seth could get very far on his own. If he even could make his way out of World's End, he'd be stranded somewhere in Antarctica. It wasn't as though he could get much further on his own.

Still, any attempt at making an escape seemed better than not trying to escape at all. Seth took in a deep breath and still holding the nightstand over his head, moved it about a foot in front of his face. He then dashed towards the window, intent on ramming the glass with the nightstand.

Seth slammed the nightstand against the window pane with all the force he could muster. However, he may as well have tried to ram a brick wall, because not only did Seth fail to penetrate the glass, but the impact shocked his entire body, causing him to drop the nightstand to the floor with a loud thud, nearly crushing his feet in the process.

"Ow..." groaned Seth, as he glanced at the palms of his hands, only to discover that they had both been bruised with straight indentations by holding the corners of the nightstand. He was not bleeding, but the collision had been painful.

Trying to cope with the pain, Seth took a good look at where the legs of the nightstand would have hit the window. He tried to find some cracks in the glass that he might have made with the nightstand. But there was nothing. The window looked to be in perfect condition. The were definitely no cracks to be found at all, not even a single, tiny one.

With his hands now sore, there was no way that Seth was going to consider trying to smash open the window again. He sat down upon the bed and clasped his aching hands together. He assumed that the window had been protected by some sort of enchantment. What was he supposed to do?

Seth then thought of something that he was surprised he hadn't thought of sooner. He was an angel! Why couldn't he just use his powers to help him escape from the room? Of course, it didn't take Seth very long to remember that he couldn't just become an angel whenever he so wanted. Otherwise, he would've been able to escape from the cave where Ronodin had been holding him earlier.

Still, Seth felt determined to make an attempt nonetheless, just in case it would actually work. For if it did, he might actually be able to escape. He could probably get past the window and fly all the way out of World's End. Of course, from there he would still have to find a way back to civilization. But he would worry about that later. Right now, he needed become an angel more than ever.

Seth envisioned wings sprouting out of his back. He squinted and concentrated as hard as he could, but as he feared, the wings failed to manifest out of his shoulder blades. However, Seth was not ready to give up. He thought about the rest of his allies. He didn't know where they were at this point. They could still be in danger right now and Seth currently had no way of even knowing.

However, it seemed futile. The thought of his allies, and hoping that he could do something to save them, was all but in vain. Seth just felt as though, as he stood now, his soul was lacking a certain "spark" that it needed in order for him to become a proper angel. In all the past instances when he had become an angel, there was a special feeling inside of him Something that he was, unfortunately, currently lacking at the moment.

Out of ideas as to how he might be able to escape, Seth felt that he had reached his wit's end. He walked back to the bedroom door, clenched his hand into a fist and proceeded to bang against it repeatedly.

After smacking the door for several seconds, Seth stopped and opened up his hand. Even though his palm was still sore from hoisting the nightstand, pounding against the door with the backside of his right hand had only made it feel worse. His left was still recovering from the nightstand; he did not want to subject it to any further pain as well.

A moment later, Seth heard a clicking noise coming from the door. No doubt it was the lock, being opened by someone on the other side. Seth watched as the handle twisted and the door was flung open into the room.

Standing in the doorway was Ronodin, who was currently giving Seth quite possibly the nastiest scowl he had ever seen. Behind Ronodin was a large monster with shaggy brown fur, jagged teeth and three horns upon its head.

"I take it you've gotten used to your new accommodations," said Ronodin.

Saying nothing, Seth exhaled through his teeth.

"This would be a lot easier if you would just cooperate."

"Listen, Ronodin," said Seth. "You can't do this to me! I can't become an angel just because you demand it! And even if I could become an angel, I would never allow you to take advantage of my power."

"Seth, you are the opportunity of a lifetime. I need your unparalleled power in order to rid the world of demons. Demons, like _this_ fool."

Ronodin stepped aside, giving Seth a better view of the furry monster that had been standing behind him. It was just standing still, seemingly uninterested in Seth.

"What are you getting at?" asked Seth, eyeing the blank monster.

"The only reason this demon is acting the way she is now is because of _this_ ,"

As Ronodin spoke, his staff magically manifested itself within his hand.

"Without my staff, this demon would be feral. Why, if I were to release the hold I have on her, she would no doubt be trying to gorge you right now."

"I get it," said Seth stubbornly.

"Do you think I _enjoy_ having to use this stick? It grants me control over only so many demons. Enough to guard this preserve. But the demons I can control make up only a small fraction of all demons that are out there. With your power, I could do away with them all."

"Fat chance."

"That reminds me," said Ronodin. "How exactly did you and your friends find this place?"

Seth paused for a moment to think. He couldn't just blab to Ronodin about the Oculus. He needed a cover.

"Well?" asked Ronodin.

"We... uh... got a report from the Knights of the Dawn that an unknown orange wyvern was flying down from New England all the way to Antarctica. A wyvern carrying a net full of fairies. Fairies that were missing from Fablehaven!"

Ronodin gave Seth a strange look. "I guess I was found out. Seems rather... _convenient_. Wouldn't you agree?

"I don't _agree_ with you at all!" blurted Seth. "And with that said, where are my friends?"

"Your friends? I didn't want to deal with all of them at once. So I banished them all out of the preserve."

" _Where_ out of this preserve?"

"I don't know. Out in the snow, somewhere. But, just to make sure they wouldn't come back here so soon, I made sure to separate them all. They're probably all stranded outside, looking for each other."

A million terrible thoughts began rushing through Seth's head. He didn't know what Kendra and Bracken, or any of the others, had been through, but if what Ronodin had said was true, they were no doubt in a heap of trouble.

"You're despicable," said Seth. "You're a monster! How can you even begin to consider yourself a unicorn?"

"That's none of your concern," said Ronodin.

"At least tell me how you abducted the fairies from Fablehaven!"

"Please. Why should I tell you my secret?"

Seth groaned. "The wyvern. How did you get it to do your bidding?"

"There's a lot about me you don't know. And speaking of that wyvern, she has a name. _Maelstrom_."

"Well, good for her! And another thing. We learned that you were with a human-sized fairy as well. Who is she?"

"She... is none of your concern."

"What can I do to convince you to let me out of here?" asked Seth.

"Are you willing to abide by my every command, do exactly as I say, and be an all-around well-behaved young man?"

"Well..."

"Be honest," said Ronodin.

"I don't... maybe."

"I don't appreciate it when people lie to me."

"No," said Seth, who didn't know what had come over him.

"And I don't suppose you'd be willing to become an angel for me, now, would you?"

"I told you before, I can't!"

"Then it would appear I have no use for you at the moment."

"So what are you going to do with me?"

"Well in spite of your unwillingness to cooperate, I am far from done with you. You're going to remain right here where you are. Maybe I need to turn to someone else. Someone more willing."

"Fine with me," said Seth.

"Oh, you'll see soon enough. For now, you are to remain in your room. If you need to use the bathroom, you may knock for assistance. But don't think you can use the opportunity to get away. Because you can't."

Seth started at Ronodin intently. The warlock returned the stare back at him.

"I'm going to leave you for now. Why don't you sleep on your decision for a while? Maybe in the morning, you'll wise up and give in to me. Goodnight, Seth."

With that said, Ronodin backed away, then closed the door to the room and locked it. Once again, Seth found himself trapped.

Not knowing what to think, Seth retreated to the bed and flopped back onto it. A million thoughts suddenly rushed through his head. He and his friends were in a heap of trouble. What was he going to do? What _could_ he even do?


	22. Sight Setting

**Chapter 22: Sight Setting**

Aside from the glowing lamp on the nightstand, the only other source of light currently in the bedroom that Seth had been confined to was the limited amount that was seeping in through the window and past the curtains.

Lying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling, Seth couldn't help but worry about the fate of himself, along with the rest of his allies. Here was was trapped in this room, while the others were out in the harsh wilds of Antarctica, left to fend for themselves. At least the dragons could fly. Bracken had his magic. And Warren did have the Translocator. But what about Kendra and Ingrid? What could they do?

Seth tried not to think about them, as it was only making him worry further. Here he was, trapped in some room thanks to Ronodin. What was Ronodin even intending on doing with him? Seth didn't fully understand the warlock's statement. It also didn't help that a fair amount of time had passed since Ronodin had spoken to him. Seth had not been keeping any real track of the time, but it felt like it had been at least an hour since the conversation.

And here Seth was, just lying down on a bed. He wanted to help. More than ever. He didn't just want to help. He _needed_ to help. But right now, the way things currently were, Seth didn't know what to think. There was always the chance that Ronodin had lied to him. That maybe his allies were in the house as well, but trapped in another room. After all, this place was a house on a preserve. Just like his home at Fablehaven. And if there was a dungeon in the basement of his house, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch if the basement of this house also contained one.

Seth continued to ponder. If only he could escape from the bedroom. He could then try to slip down into the dungeon. He would just have to make sure that he didn't get caught. And that he had a way of getting past the door that would undoubtedly be locked. And that his allies were even down there.

The whole idea seemed completely ridiculous to Seth. His plan contained too many "ifs" and felt very unreliable. He also remembered that one of the last things one should ever do was jump to conclusions about something they were unfamiliar with, because life never seemed to unfold out the way that Seth usually hoped it would.

Also, there was the matter of Seth's allies. Who was to say they were even in the dungeon? Or anywhere in the house? Or on the entire preserve, for that matter? Ronodin was probably right. Who was he even kidding? As far as Seth could figure, each and every last one of his allies was probably a thousand miles away from him right now.

Seth's solitude, as well as his train of thought, was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected clunking sound. Feeling as goosebumps started to rise along his arms, Seth turned his head over towards the door, the direction from which he had heard the noise.

The doorknob was turning back and forth, seemingly on its own. No doubt someone was on the other side, causing it to move. Seth then heard as whoever was on the other side of the door began to push against it, producing a deep thumping sound.

Seth froze. Was it Ronodin? It couldn't be. He was the one who locked him in this room to begin with. Whoever was trying to open the door didn't seem to have a key, or else they wouldn't be struggling to open it.

Before Seth could mull over who the person who was attempting to open the door was, he could hear a clicking sound. It was the lock. It had been opened. With nowhere left to hide, Seth quickly bolted out of bed and ran over to the wall next to the door.

As the door flung open, Seth stood completely still, allowing the door to come to a stop in front of him. He was now hiding in the space between the open door and the wall. It seemed like a silly idea that only ever worked in cartoons, but right now, Seth was more desperate than ever. He was hoping that there would be a small chance of it actually working.

"Seth," said a deep, grovelling voice, as footsteps entered the room room. Seth peered through the crack where the door hinges were and watched as two monstrous figures that were hard to make out entered the room. "Seth. Where are you?"

"He's not here," said the other monster, speaking in a more feminine voice.

"You said he was!" snapped the first figure.

"I can still sense him," said the female. "He's around here somewhere."

"Let me close the door first."

It was at this moment that Seth knew he was finished. Although the room wasn't very bright, even with the lamp, Seth could've used the shadows that were behind the door to render himself invisible. If only he were still a shadow charmer. Which he wasn't. He was trapped.

The fingers belonging to a big, brown hand, complete with long claws, gripped the side of the door and swung it away from Seth. Seth looked up at the two figures who were standing before him. Both bipedal, the brown one resembled a raccoon, only with longer teeth, claws, and horns. The other one was green and scaly, almost like an enormous iguana.

"Seth!" cried the green figure.

"Get away from me!" snapped Seth, as he held his arms up in front of himself and formed a set of fists.

"Seth, it's us!" said the brown figure. "Calm down!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Uh..." said the brown monster, as he looked at his partner, then himself. "I think we forgot something."

The green monster smacked her head. She then shot a blast of green magic at the brown monster and snapped her finger. There was a flash of brilliant light. Once it faded, Seth could see Warren and Clover, standing in the same spots that the monsters had been in.

Seth froze, as he stared at the two figures he who were truly standing before him. He began to hyperventilate. "Oh my god. Is it really you two?"

"It's us," said Clover, who was wearing a green parka and boots."You're safe. It's going to be okay."

"But... how?"

"I think we all have some explaining to," said Warren, as he held out his arms and embraced Seth in a hug. The hug made Seth feel extremely relieved.

"How'd you even get here?" asked Seth, as he and Warren released each other from their grasps.

"The Translocator helped," said Warren. "And that's exactly how we're getting out of this place."

"But my stuff. Ronodin has my sword and the Pyruby!"

"Where?" asked Clover.

"I dunno. They're probably here somewhere..."

"Ronodin must've sensed some power from the Pyruby. Even if he doesn't know what it does."

"We can't just leave it here," said Warren. "Any way you can try to detect it, Clover?"

"I hope so. I was able to figure out where Seth was in this place by detecting him. Maybe I can do the same for the Pyruby. After all, I know what to look out for."

"Is it safe?" asked Seth.

"Hardly," said Clover. "There's demonic monsters all over the preserve now. Some of which are inside. I incapacitated the ones that seemed suspicious."

"What about Ronodin? And that strange fairy?"

"I sensed all sorts of unfamiliar figures in here. We didn't want to mess with them, so we just took the most direct route to find you. Hopefully, I'm able to do the same with the Pyruby, now that I know to look for it."

"Where is Ronodin?" asked Seth, as Warren placed a hand on the doorknob.

"He's in a room at the other end of the hall," said Clover, as Warren cautiously opened the door. "We do _not_ want to mess with him. So keep it down."

Warren opened the door and the three of them ventured out into the unlit hallway hallway. Lying on the ground, only a few feet away from the door, was the monster that had been with Ronodin the last time that Seth saw him. Right now, he appeared to be in some sort of slumber, no doubt due to Clover.

"What do we do if the Pyruby is in the same room as Ronodin?" asked Seth. "We'll never get it back."

"We'll have to abandon it," said Warren. "It's not worth the risk right now."

After grabbing his bag, Seth, along with Warren, followed Clover down the hallway. She stopped in front of a stairway leading downward.

"I think it's downstairs," said Clover, as she began to walk down the steps.

They proceeded down the stairs, where another monster was snoozing on the floor next to the bottom step. They then walked down another hallway and towards a door that yet another monster was sleeping in front of.

"I think it's in here," said Clover. "We found this guy by accident while looking for you. Just as well, though."

Warren opened up the door and they passed into what appeared to be a study, not too different from the one at Fablehaven belonging to Grandpa Sorenson. Sitting directly on the desk was the Pyruby. In addition to it, Seth's sword, in its scabbard, was leaning against the front of the desk.

"Sweet!" said Seth.

"It's just sitting there..." said Clover. "I hope it's not a trap."

"It's been a long day for Ronodin, too," said Warren. "He was probably too tired to do try anything with the Pyruby. Even to lock it up."

"Let's hope so," said Clover. "I'm not sensing any charms, hexes or enchantments in the vicinity, so it should be good for the taking."

Seth walked over to the desk and picked up the Pyruby, then placed it in his bag. He then picked up his sword.

"What about the others?" asked Seth.

"We'll come back for them," said Warren, as he pulled the Translocator out of his bag. "Right now we just need to get out of this place!"

As Warren twisted the Translocator, Seth and Clover placed their hands on it. Warren then twisted it again. In the blink of an eye, Seth found that the three of them were now standing in the living room back home at Fablehaven.

Gazing around the living room, Seth could see his parents, Grandparents and Dale were all sitting down on the couches.

"Oh, thank god!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson, as she got up from her seat and hugged her son. "We were so worried about you!"

"I'm okay," said Seth. "Warren, what exactly happened to you?"

"I think I owe you a proper explanation," said Warren. "You see, after Ronodin zapped all of us, I found myself stranded somewhere in Antarctica, all by myself. But thankfully, I had the Translocator on me. I immediately used to it travel back to World's End, making sure to appear out of Ronodin's line of sight. I saw that Ronodin took you inside the house, but I didn't dare try entering on my own."

"Warren came back here and told us," said Grandma.

"He then came to Wingadoon and asked me for my assistance," said Clover. "We then traveled to World's End. However, since there were monsters all over the place, I disguised the two of us as monsters ourselves, so as not to draw attention."

"They were pretty convincing disguises," said Seth. "I'll give you that."

"We'll save 'em for Halloween," said Warren.

"Anyway," said Clover, "we snuck into the house, using my power to deal with any guards, and to find you."

"And after that, you came back here," said Grandpa. "Well done!"

"I'm glad we're all okay," said Seth. "But we're hardly done. What about the rest of our group?"

"Fortunately, we were able to rescue you, Seth" said Warren. "And you can search for the others using the Oculus?"

"Are you sure?" asked Seth. "I'm not a shadow charmer anymore."

"Well, no," said Grandma. "But, you do have an understanding as to how the Oculus works. And you _are_ angelkind. At least give it a try."

"But what if it messes with my mind?"

"I'll be right here with you," said Clover. "Please, Seth. Right now you're our only hope."

Seth took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Okay. I'll try it. But if you sense that I'm in any sort of distress, help me."

"Understood," said Clover, giving a nod.

Dale wasted no time in retrieving the Oculus from upstairs and bringing it down to the living room. Holding the artifact in his hand, Seth began to focus.

"I can do this," said Seth, as he closed his eyes. "I'll start with Ingrid. I just hope this actually works."

Seth envisioned Ingrid in his mind. Within a few seconds, Ingrid started to come into Seth's vision. He wasn't sure how, but whatever the reason, the Oculus seemed to be working for him.

"I see her!" exclaimed Seth. "Am I still alive in the real world?"

"You're fine, Seth!" said Grandpa. "It's a miracle this still works. Where's Ingrid?"

Seth watched as the world around Ingrid slowly came into view. Ingrid appeared to be huddled up on a plane of snow, as the snowflakes of a fierce blizzard were blasting themselves in flurries all around her. The sight was horrifying for Seth to see. Even though it was just a vision, Seth felt like he was right next to Ingrid, unable to actually help her.

"She's in the snow! I think she might be freezing to death. She must be in Antarctica somewhere!"

" _Where_ somewhere?" blurted Warren.

"I''m going to check!" said Seth. Keeping his view fixated on Ingrid, Seth back up and away from the ground and into the sky. It didn't take long to lose sight of Ingrid due to all the snow that was blowing around, but the power of the Oculus allowed Seth to focus on the spot where he saw her.

"I think I know where she is," said Seth, as he opened his eyes.

"Okay," said Warren, as he held his tablet in front of Seth with a map of Antarctica displayed on the screen. "Where was she?"

Seth moved his index finger up towards the screen and pressed it on the most approximate spot where he had spotted Ingrid, causing a marker to appear.

"This is hopeless," said Seth. "We're never going to find her. Antarctica's so huge! And we still have to find Kendra, Bracken and the dragons as well!"

"I'm the least worried about the dragons," said Warren. "They can withstand the antarctic climate pretty well. The girls and even Bracken are in far more trouble. Let's concentrate on finding them first."

Seth then used the Oculus to search for Kendra. Within moments, Kendra came into into view, huddled in the hole that she had created for herself using the Emerock. Seth then made a note of Kendra's location and pinpointed it on the tablet.

Next, Seth used the Oculus to search for Bracken. He discovered Bracken was curled up in a blanket inside a tent, doing his best to protect himself from the blizzard. No doubt had Bracken used his power to keep himself warm. Having discovered Bracken, Seth marked his location on the tablet as well.

"Interesting," said Warren, as he studied the spots that Seth had marked on his tablet. "Ingrid, Kendra and Bracken aren't all that far apart from each other."

"Really?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "That's.. not as bad as I had imagined, at least."

"Yeah. There's no more than like twenty miles between any of them."

"I need to look for the dragons, too," said Seth. "But... Ingrid and Kendra are freezing to death. Especially Ingrid!"

"Question," said Mr. Sorenson. "How are you even going to find anybody? All the dragons are out there missing."

"I know who can help you," said Dale. "The reindeer."

"You mean it?" asked Seth.

"Why not?" asked Dale. "If there are any creatures that are adept at around during a blistering cold night, it's them. They have a great sense of direction as well, so they're not likely to get lost."

"That's actually a pretty good idea," said Grandpa. "Which reindeer should go down to Antarctica, then?"

"Why not all of them?" asked Warren. "We've got seven missing individuals and eight reindeer to work with. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"But I still don't know where the dragons are," said Seth.

"Presumably, they're still somewhere not too far from the others," said Grandma. "Mind you, they could be further away, since they can fly and all."

"Seth, try to find all of the dragons anyway," said Grandpa. "If you provide their coordinates to some of the reindeer, they might be able to find them. They are pretty good fliers after all."

"But what if the reindeer get lost?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"We'll arrange a meeting point with the reindeer," said Clover. "They have an excellent sense of direction, so even if they are unable to find any of the dragons, they will at least know where to return to."

"Sounds good," said Grandpa. "Dale, I want you to round up the reindeer. Seth, I want you to search for the dragons and make note of their locations as well. Once you've done that, all of you are to head back down to Antarctica and start searching for everybody."

"Understood," said Seth. "We're on it."

"Good," said Mrs. Sorenson. "We're counting on you."


	23. Polar Extremes

**Chapter 23: Polar Extremes**

Seth, Warren and Clover ventured out into the backyard, where Dale and all of the reindeer had been waiting around for them. Taking a quick look up at the sky, Seth was able to see just how dark it had gotten by now, even though he was back home at Fablehaven.

"I've explained the situation to the reindeer," said Dale. "They understand what needs to be done. You do have the coordinates of everyone who's lost, right?"

"We should," said Seth, as he turned to face all of the reindeer. "You guys know what to do, right?"

The reindeer all nodded.

"Seth, Clover," said Warren. "The three of us will stay together on two reindeer. The other six reindeer will search for the girls and the dragons."

"Which reindeer are looking for who?" asked Dale.

"I dunno," said Warren. "I suppose they're all capable of whomever they're assigned to search for. So we'll make it simple. "Dasher and Dancer, you two are coming with us while we look for Ingrid. Prancer, you look for Kendra. Vixen, look for Bracken. Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, try to locate Raxtus, Geminus, Skyfrost and Firesquall."

Holding out his tablet so that the reindeer could see the screen, Warren explained to them as to who was supposedly where on the map.

"Remember," said Seth. "These positions may not be accurate. And the dragons are no doubt flying around who-knows-where."

"If you find whoever you're looking for, fly back to the starting point," said Warren. "But if you don't, fly back after an hour has passed anyway so we can regroup and try again."

"That reminds me," said Clover, as she pointed her index finger at Prancer and shot a blast of sparkles at him. A saddlebag then appeared on the reindeer's back.

"What is that?" asked Seth.

"A care package," replied Clover. "Poor Kendra is freezing to death as we speak. If the reindeer can't get her to safety immediately, at least she will have food and warmth that I can provide her with. And if we at least find Ingrid, I'll be able to help her right away. We can even bring her back home to recover with the Translocator."

"Unfortunately, we only have the one," said Warren, as held up the aforementioned artifact in his hand. But, we're doing what we can."

"I guess we better head off then," said Clover, as Seth and Warren both nodded in response.

"It's getting late and the reindeer won't be around to check on Vanessa with everyone gone," said Dale. "I'm going to bring her into the house for the night, so she's not alone in the cave any longer."

"Good idea," said Warren, as he twisted the Translocator and held it out in front of him. "Clover, Seth. Whenever you're ready..."

Seth placed his hand upon the Translocator, as did Clover. The reindeer then circled around the group and bowed their heads downward, in such a way so that each of them had a tip of their antlers pressed against the artifact.

Now that the entire group was making contact with it, Warren twisted the Translocator again. In the blink of an eye, Seth witnessed as the surrounding yard at Fablehaven suddenly blurred into the wintery tundra of Antarctica, while his boots sank several inches into the snow.

As everyone else backed away from Warren and the Translocator, Seth studied the area that he was now in. Turning his head to look around, he saw that several yards away from where everyone was standing was the entrance to the underground tunnel that served as the entrance to World's End.

"Warren, where exactly are we?" asked Clover, as she stared into the tunnel.

"That tunnel is the entrance to World's End," replied Warren. "Going by what Seth saw through the Oculus, Ronodin seems to have transported the others to various points not too far from where we are now."

"This is probably the furthest you guys have ever been from home, hasn't it?" asked Seth, as he turned to face the reindeer, all of whom nodded.

"Bet they're right at home here, though," said Warren. "Aren't you?"

Clover sighed. "Boys... Can we at least focus? We have to help the others! We might be their only hope."

"Right then," said Warren. "Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. You all understand what you're supposed to do?"

Four of the reindeer nodded.

"Great. You might as well set off and report back here in an hour."

The four reindeer all nodded. They then stood up on their hind hooves and leaped into the air, all flying off in different directions.

"Good luck!" said Clover.

"You really suppose they know where they're going?" asked Seth.

"I have absolute faith in them," replied Warren. "They all have an excellent sense of direction. What none of us can count on are the dragons being in the same positions that you saw them in through the Oculus."

"Prancer," said Clover. "We're depending on you to find Kendra, bring her back here, and to keep her from freezing with the care package I provided. Vixen, you do the same for Bracken. Since he's a unicorn, he can still fend for himself."

Prancer and Vixen both nodded, then proceeded to take off as did the reindeer that had before them.

"Guess that just leaves us," said Warren, as he climbed up onto the back of one of the two remaining reindeer. "Go on, Seth. Get up onto Dasher."

Seth nodded and made his way up onto the last reindeer's back. Compared to a dragon like Skyfrost, Seth found that mounting himself upon a reindeer was a lot easier to accomplish.

"I'll stay with you in case you guys need my help," said Clover.

"Wait!" exclaimed Seth. "Why are you going with us? You should be going with Prancer to find Kendra!"

"There's enough of us scattered around Antarctica," said Warren. "The last thing we need are more of us getting lost. We need to stick together."

"My care package should be enough to sustain her," said Clover. "I'm going to hide myself for now."

Clover then vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind a silhouette of green sparkles that faded away fairly quickly.

"Okay then," said Warren. "Dasher, Dancer. You two know where we're supposed to go. Let's head off!"

Seth grabbed hold of Dasher's neck with his gloved hands, just as the reindeer leaped up into the air and began to fly up into the air. Looking to one side, Seth saw that Dancer was floating alongside him, with Warren seated upon her back.

"How far from here would you say Ingrid is?" asked Seth.

"I'm not sure, exactly," replied Warren. "But if I had to wager a guess, probably under a hundred miles."

"I've got the Oculus in case we get lost, or we can't find Ingrid. Are you reindeer sure you know where to go?"

"Where they've been instructed to go is from an estimation that _you_ provided. It's not like we know the exact latitude and longitude of where Ingrid is. Or the the others, for that matter."

"You think Santa will mind that we're using his reindeer like this without his consent?" asked Seth.

"Gosh, maybe he'll force us to work at his workshop. Or put us on his naughty list."

Dasher and Dancer both shook their heads.

"I'm kidding," said Warren. "I'm sure Santa would understand what going on, given the current situation."

"But what if something happens to the reindeer?" asked Seth. "If not Dasher and Dancer, then one of the other unsupervised ones?"

"I don't know. We were so caught up in trying to help the others, we didn't even take the well-being of the reindeer into account."

"Makes me feel guilty about being so reliant."

"Don't get hung up on that," said Warren. "We could use all the help we can get."

After flying around for a fair bit of time, the group soon found themselves flying through some mild flurries. At first, the snow seemed fairly calm and harmless. However, the intensity of the snow grew stronger and fiercer the further they went, with the storm soon becoming a powerful blizzard.

Seth turned to look at Dancer and Warren, and could barely see them through all the snow that was blowing through the air, even though they were only a couple of feet apart.

"Warren!" cried Seth, who found that his voice was being muffled by the blizzard. "Dancer! Stay with us! We don't want to lose you! I'm starting to wish we had Kendra's weather stick right now. Only, she's the only one of us who's ever really used it."

"I've got an idea," exclaimed Warren. "Clover! Can you tether Dasher and Dancer together? Please!"

There was a brief flash of green light. When it faded, Seth saw that the two reindeer were now both wearing harnesses around their upper bodies, which were connected by a rope.

"Good idea, Warren!" said Seth. "And thank you, too, Clover!"

"Yeah," said Warren. "I hope that wasn't too taxing on her. She hasn't fully recovered since we went into World's End when we rescued you."

As the reindeer continued to fly around through the blizzard, Seth couldn't help but place a hand in front of his face to shield himself from all the snow that was blowing around. He found that it didn't make much difference, given that there was zero visibility at this current point. All that he could see in every direction had been a wall of blowing snow.

"Seth!" exclaimed Warren. "The reindeer can't go on like this! There's too much snow! Man... where's Rudolph when ya need him?"

"But what about Ingrid?" asked Seth.

"We'll never see her in all this snow! Dancer probably can't even see the end of her nose! We have to stop!"

"I'm not leaving Ingrid!"

"Seth, this is foolish! I want to help Ingrid just as much as you do. But this snow is making the mission impossible! We need to stop and wait out the storm."

"But Ingrid could freeze to death. Couldn't Clover do something?"

"Like what? She can't stop all this snow!"

Right now, Seth felt awful. He wanted to press onward and continue the search for Ingrid. But Warren _did_ have a point. They had no way of spotting her in all this snow. He was torn.

"We're going back now," said Warren. "I'm getting the Translocator ready."

Turning back felt wrong to Seth. Even though going further seemed futile, he still wanted to look for Ingrid. He couldn't quit on her now.

Seth opened his eyes and watched as Warren held out the Translocator in front of Seth. Dancer had an antler pressing against the side of the artifact.

"Come on, Seth," said Warren, as Dasher pressed one of his antlers against the Translocator. "Let's go."

"No," said Seth, shaking his head.

"Seth, I know you're anxious to help Ingrid, but even _I_ know that this is foolish."

"I'm not going!" snapped Seth, who was beginning to feel very tense inside. "I'll find Ingrid even if I have to walk through the snow by myself!"

"Don't be an idiot!" snapped Warren. "We're going back and that's final!"

"No!" blurted Seth. As Warren advanced the Translocator closer to him, Seth could feel as his wings grew out from his shoulder blades, puncturing through several layers of clothing and out the back of his jacket.

"Seth..." gasped Warren, as he hesitated while holding onto the Translocator. "What are you doing?"

Without responding, Seth could feel as his whole body began to emit a vibrant golden glow. It was as though he could feel a strange pull, telling him to go in a specific direction.

"It's my angelic powers. I can't explain it... but it feels like they want to _guide_ me to Ingrid."

" _Really_?" asked Warren.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna try channeling this power to Dasher so he can follow it."

Seth closed his eyes and and focused on directing his energy from his own body and down into Dasher. A moment later, Dasher began to boost forward, dragging Dancer and Warren along behind him.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Warren, as Dasher pulled him and Dancer through the air at a high speed. "Seth, what if this doesn't work?"

"What if it _does_?" asked Seth. For the next few moments, there was a pause.

"You can't see it now, but you just made me smile."

Remaining in his angel form, Seth continued to hold onto Dasher, as energy continued to flow between their bodies.

Dasher continued flying in the direction that Seth could sense that the mysterious force had been directing him to. After flying for several more minutes, Dasher began to descend downward.

"Is this it?" asked Warren.

"I hope so," replied Seth. "I mean, I don't fully understand how my powers work, but it felt like I was being drawn to Ingrid somehow."

Dasher continued soaring down through the falling snow. After what felt like it had to have been several hundred feet, the reindeer came to a landing in the snow, which was at least a foot thick.

"Where are we?" asked Seth, who still couldn't his surroundings due to all his snow. However, one thing was for sure, the force within his body now felt _very_ strong.

"You're the one who led us here," replied Warren. "You tell me."

"Hello?" shouted Ingrid, whose voice sounded as though it came from somewhere close by. "Seth? Warren?"

"Ingrid!" cried Seth, as Dasher and Dancer flew over towards the direction of her voice.

After only a few seconds, the reindeer landed again. Although she was hard to make out, Seth could see Ingrid, sitting on the snow and all curled up into a ball.

"SETH!" exclaimed Ingrid, as she jumped up and lunged toward him, embracing him in a hug. Her body felt extremely cold compared to his own, even though she was bundled up just as much as he was.

"Wow..." said Warren, who sounded like he was practically speechless.

"It's okay," said Seth. "We found you."

"We're getting you out of here," said Warren as he held out the Translocator.

"Thank god," said Ingrid, as she and Seth both placed their hands upon the Translocator, while Dasher and Dancer touched it with their antlers.

Warren then twisted the artifact. In an instant, the group found themselves being hurled away from the blizzard, and were now back in the yard at Fablehaven, where the night weather was very calm.

"I was _so_ scared," said Ingrid, as Seth and Warren got down from Dasher and Dancer. "Seth, how come you're an angel?"

"We were looking for you," said Seth, as he brushed some snow off of his toque. "But there was too much snow. Warren wanted to turn back. But I was so determined to find you, that I became an angel and was able to track you perfectly."

"That's incredible. But where's everyone else? And why are you on reindeer instead of Skyfrost and Firesquall?"

"Ronodin didn't just transport _you_ into the wilds of Antarctica," replied Warren. "Everyone except Seth got scattered."

"I was captured," said Seth. " _Again_."

"Let's go inside and get you warmed up," said Warren. "You must be _freezing_. Dasher and Dancer, we'll be a few minutes."

Seth, Ingrid and Warren all walked towards the house. As they approached the door, Seth could feel his wings retracting back through his clothes and into his body.

"I guess there's one advantage to having been homeless for part of my life," said Ingrid. "I'm used to being out in the cold. But... it was never _this_ bad."

"Ingrid, I never want you to suffer like that again," said Seth, placing a gloved hand around one of Ingrid's, while Warren opened the door to the house.

The group was soon greeted by the rest of the family, who were all elated to see that Ingrid was all right. As Clover joined them, Seth and Warren relayed their experience to Ingrid and the rest of the family.

"It's very fortunate that you were able to find Ingrid," said Grandpa. "It's amazing what your angel powers are capable of."

"It was my feelings for Ingrid that made it possible," said Seth. "Of course, being around Warren and the reindeer and their loving hearts must've helped."

"I'd like to think so," said Warren, nodding in Seth's direction. "And to think I almost forced Seth into leaving..."

"I made hot chocolate for all of you," said Grandma, as she came into the living room carrying a tray with several mugs, all of which had steam rising from them.

"Thank you," said Seth, as he accepted a mug from Grandma.

"Ingrid you deserve an extra large mug after what you've been through," said Grandma, as she handed a mug to Ingrid which was noticeably larger than the others.

"Thank you," said Ingrid as she immediately began to down the hot chocolate that she was holding.

"This hot chocolate is delicious, as usual," said Seth. "But why are we sitting around at home? We've still got to rescue the others."

"We told the other reindeer to return to the meeting point after one hour," said Clover. "It hasn't been an hour."

"But it's not fair to keep the others waiting, in case they get back early," said Mrs. Sorenson. " _Especially_ Kendra."

"Exactly," said Ingrid. "They don't know it, but the others are depending on you. Just like I was."

"My sentiments exactly," said Grandpa. "You guys should really get back down there right away."

"We will," said Clover. "Hopefully Seth is able to become an angel again."

"Yeah," chimed in Warren. "We're gonna get going. Juuust as soon as we finish our hot chocolate."


	24. Reindeer Rescue

**Chapter 24: Reindeer Rescue**

No sooner had they finishing drinking their hot chocolate did Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Clover make their way back out of the house and into the front yard, where Dasher and Dancer had been waiting around for them.

"Why are we coming back with these reindeer?" asked Seth.

"We don't know what to expect while we're down there," said Clover. "It's better to be safe than sorry, in case we still need the assistance of the reindeer."

"I hope not," said Warren. "We only found Ingrid because of Seth's angel power. Something that none of the other reindeer have access to."

Ingrid took in a deep breath, then grasped her hand around Seth's wrist. "That's what worries me. If Seth couldn't have done what he just did, I'd still be freezing to death in Antarctica, with no hope of being found."

"Look, as long as I have this power, let's make the best of it," said Seth. "If the other reindeer can't find the others, maybe I can give it a shot."

"Sounds like the best option we may have," said Warren. "Still, let's just return to the meeting spot and wait for the others to return, as we originally planned."

Warren twisted the Translocator and held it out in front of him.

"Ingrid," said Seth. "You don't have to come with us. I mean, you've suffered enough."

"No," retorted Ingrid, as she placed her hand on the Translocator. "I want to come. Even if I can't offer any real help. I'm still concerned about the others."

"I've fixed the holes that your wings made in the back of your clothes," said Clover. "Don't be afraid to rip through them again, if that's what it takes. It's a small price to pay."

Once everyone was touching the Translocator, Warren twisted the artifact again. In an instant, the group had been displaced from the yard at Fablehaven, and were now standing in the Antarctic tundra. Looking at his new surroundings, Seth found that they were now back near the entrance to the tunnel that led into World's End.

"Looks like we're the first ones back," said Warren, as he pulled the Translocator away from everyone else and slipped it back into his bag. "The one hour deadline hasn't passed."

"Well, guess we might as well just wait for the other reindeer to return, then," said Ingrid. "At least it's not snowing in this area."

"Are you certain that the reindeer know how to return to this very spot, wherever they are?" asked Seth.

Dasher and Dancer both nodded.

"It's an instinctive ability they have," said Clover. "They may look like ordinary reindeer, but they possess special powers and abilities. Finding their way is practically second nature to them."

"I'd like it if they had the power to find missing people," said Seth.

Warren chuckled. "If only. Of course that would make it too easy."

"What now?" asked Ingrid.

"We wait," replied Seth. "In the freezing cold. Gee, this sounds like it's going to be _loads_ of fun."

"As much as I trust the reindeer, I still feel that they could use an indicator of where they should be headed," said Clover. "I'm going to set up a temporary beacon that will help draw in the reindeer's attention, so long as they're somewhere nearby."

Clover's hands began to emit a green glow. She then held them upwards and exerted a beam of energy that shot up into the sky. A moment later, the vibrant beam of green energy faded.

"There," said Clover. "Now the reindeer will be able to sense us from a mile away."

"That's great," said Ingrid. "But.. is there a chance that other, unwanted beings could sense this energy?"

"It's unlikely," replied Clover. "You have to be able to sense light, and I don't think too many light creatures actually dwell in this part of the world."

Seth, Ingrid, Warren and Clover all sat down in the snow, as did Dasher and Dancer. The cold temperature of the snow beneath his legs was at first unnerving to Seth. However, after a moment passed, Seth found himself getting used to the coldness, although he wasn't very fond of it either way.

"Hey, what are we sitting around in the cold for?" asked Ingrid. "Seth, you've got the Pyruby on you..."

"Yeah, I do." noted Seth. "Only, I've got nothing that'll fuel the fire. It's too dangerous to just hold it in my hand continuously while fire is flowing out of it. Even I know that."

"Have a bit of kindling," said Clover. "She then shot a stream of green sparkles from her gloved hand at the ground in front of the group, causing a few logs to manifest on top of the snow.

"Nice," said Seth, as he pulled the Pyruby out from his bag and aimed it at the logs. Focusing firmly on the gem in his hand, a stream of fire shot out from it and hit the logs, setting them ablaze. The sudden warmth of the fire made Seth feel much more relaxed and comfortable, in spite of his actual location.

"Much better," said Warren as he held his hands over the open flame. "Thanks."

Several minutes later, the burning fire had sunken down a fair bit into the snow it had been set up. Ingrid gazed up into the sky, pointing in a direction that Seth was currently facing away from.

"Look!" she exclaimed. "It's Skyfrost... and a reindeer!"

Seth turned himself around. Surely enough, up in the sky, he could see Skyfrost flying towards the group from a distance, while a reindeer flew next to him. The two were still a fair distance away, but Seth was at least able to make them out.

Within moments, Skyfrost and the reindeer had both landed in front of the group.

"Skyfrost!" blurted Seth, as he leaped up from his current position and placed a hand upon the wyvern's wing. "Am I _relieved_ to see you!"

"Same here," said Skyfrost. "I didn't know where I was. Thankfully, I ran into Donner here while I was flying around, and he led me back to this place."

"You did good, Donner," said Ingrid. Now standing up, she proceeded to rub the reindeer on his nuzzle.

"Not to complain or anything... but could someone tell me what's going on? One minute I'm with everyone at World's End. The next, I'm in the middle of nowhere."

The group went on to explain what they had gone through since that instance, but in a fairly abridged version.

"That's crazy," said Skyfrost. "Where are all the others?"

"The rest of the reindeer are out looking for them," said Clover. "We need to be patient. "There's still a bit of time before they're due back here."

As the group sat down again, Skyfrost knelt down in the snow next to Seth.

In less than two minutes time, another reindeer returned to the group. It was Blitzen, who was accompanied by Firesquall. Before the group could explain everything to Firesquall, did Geminus return, along with Cupid.

Before much longer, Vixen and Comet had returned, bringing with them Bracken and Raxtus respectively.

"It's a relief to see that all of you are okay," said Bracken, who had been the last one to return, along with Vixen.

"That just leaves... Kendra," said Ingrid, after the others had all been filled in on what had happened.

"I was able to communicate with her through our coins. Or at least I was, until she became too weak."

"Kendra's in trouble?" asked Seth, feeling wrought with fear over the possibility of his sister being in danger.

"Where is she?" asked Ingrid.

"Beats me," replied Bracken. "I wasn't able to track her through my coin."

"Hopefully she''ll be all right," said Warren. "Prancer's out looking for Kendra at this very moment, and he even has a care package for her just in case. If anything, he's already found Kendra, and the two of them are on their way back here at this very moment."

For the next few minutes, Seth switched between following the time on his watch, then looking up and around at the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kendra getting a ride back to the group atop Prancer.

"It's been over an hour now," said Warren, prompting Seth to read his own watch. Surely enough, sixty-one minutes had passed since they had initially returned to their current spot and set off to look for everybody who was missing.

"You're being too much of a stickler, Warren," said Clover. "Give Prancer a break. It's not like he has a clock to rely on."

"I hope he's okay," said Seth.

"I hope _Kendra's_ okay," noted Bracken. "I tried speaking to her on the ride back here, but she didn't respond. She sounded really weak just before she zoned out."

A few minutes later, Seth noticed one final reindeer in the sky, flying towards the group's current position.

"Look!" exclaimed Seth, pointing towards the incoming reindeer, drawing the attention of the others. "It's Prancer!"

Everyone watched as Prancer soared down towards the group. Within a moment, he had reached the ground, landing in the snow next to the group. However, there was just one problem. He was alone.

"Prancer..." said Bracken cautiously. "Where's Kendra?"

Prancer shook his head.

"You couldn't find her?" asked Clover.

Seth could feel as his heart began to thump heavily within his chest as the bad news sunk in.

"You went to the spot I showed to you, right?" asked Warren.

Prancer nodded.

"And you searched all around for Kendra as best as you possibly could?" asked Clover.

The reindeer nodded a second time.

"Give Prancer a break," said Raxtus. "Clearly he _tried_ looking for Kendra. But can you blame him for not succeeding? The odds were highly against him."

"Raxtus has a point," said Ingrid. "The only reason I was found so easily was because Seth has angelic powers. Something that none of the reindeer have."

"And it's much easier to find a dragon that's flying around in the sky than it is to find a human huddled up on the ground somewhere," noted Geminus.

"As long as we're all together again," said Warren, "we might as well all head towards where Kendra was spotted and perform a group search. Just so long as we remember to stay together."

"We've got the Oculus on us, right?" asked Seth. "Now that Kendra's the only one who's still missing, I can just use it to concentrate on her."

"Go for it," said Warren, as he removed the Oculus from his bag and passed it over to Seth, who accepted it from his cousin.

Clenching the Oculus within his gloved hands, Seth began to to picture Kendra in his mind. Envisioning her was easy, and within mere seconds, his sister came into view.

Seth saw that Kendra was curled up inside what appeared to be a small, burrowed-out hole. Her eyes were closed, and her entire body was shivering. Worried, but still intrigued, Seth reared his viewpoint out of the hole. While keeping his view fixated on the hole, Seth rose up into the sky, until he could see the waters that bordered the edge of the continent.

"I found her," said Seth, as he opened up his eyes, bringing his perspective back to reality. "She's holed up somewhere. I think she might be freezing to death."

"Kendra's _freezing_?" gasped Bracken.

"Quick, where is she?" asked Warren, as he held out his tablet in front of him, with a map of Antarctica already displayed on the screen.

Her location still fresh in his mind, Seth placed his fingertip on the approximate spot where he had spotted Kendra through the Oculus.

"It looks to be the same spot where you spotted her before," said Warren. "You said she was in a hole?"

"Yeah," replied Seth. "But she seems worse off than she was before."

"Well no wonder Prancer had trouble finding her," said Ingrid. "If she's in a hole..."

"Why are we stalling?" asked Bracken. "Kendra needs us! Let's go!"

Seth climbed up onto Skyfrost's back, while Ingrid and Bracken got onto Geminus and Raxtus respectively. Lastly, both Warren and Clover got onto Firesquall.

"Let's all try looking for Kendra," said Clover. "Prancer, take us back to where you were before."

Prancer jumped up into the air, prompting the rest of the reindeer and the dragons to all follow him as he flew off.

As the group flew across the tundra, they soon found that they had flown directly into a snow storm.

"Not again!" groaned Ingrid, as flurries whizzed past everybody's faces.

"This might be a good sign, actually" said Geminus. "I was in a snow storm when Cupid discovered me."

"In fact, a lot of us were lost in the snow like this," said Raxtus. "Meaning, we're probably on the right track."

"Either way," said Seth, "I can't stand it! It's _freezing_! I'd rather be back at World's End as Ronodin's prisoner! At least there I had shelter."

"You think this snow's bad, think about poor Kendra," said Bracken.

After enduring the snow for several more minutes, Prancer came to a stop in midair, prompting the rest of the flyers to do as well, leaving them to all hover around in one spot.

"I think we're close to Kendra," said Firesquall. "Real close."

"It's gonna be hard to find her in all this dumb snow," noted Seth, who found that his vision was still limited by the storm.

"Why don't you just do your angel thing again?" asked Ingrid. "If it worked for me, why not Kendra?"

"I'll try," said Seth. "But it's not easy. With all of you here for support, I don't feel as desperate for help as I did when it was just Warren, Clover, two reindeer and myself."

"Save yourself the effort," said Bracken. "So long as we're in close enough range, I should be able to sense where Kendra ought to be."

Seth watched as Bracken closed his eyes and positioned his hand downwards.

"I'm getting something," said Bracken. "Down that way!"

"I feel it too," said Raxtus, as the fairy dragon flew down towards where Bracken was leading him. "Follow me!"

The rest of the group followed Raxtus' lead. After landing in the snow, Bracken got down from Raxtus and the two of them scurried forward several yards. The others all followed them.

"It's Kendra!" exclaimed Raxtus, as he peered down into a small hole that was partially obscured by branches.

"Kendra!" cried Seth, as everyone darted towards the hole and surrounded it.

Looking down into the hole, everyone could make out Kendra. She was in a lying down position, hugging herself as best she could in an attempt to stay warm.

"Kendra, it's us!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Are you okay?"

Kendra did not respond properly. She just moaned and raised her hand.

"Kendra?" asked Seth, dreading to know the truth of Kendra's current condition.

"We have to get her out of here," said Warren. "Can someone get her out of that hole, please?"

"Allow me," said Bracken. He held his hand down towards Kendra, then exerted a stream of white sparkles at her, which encompassed her entire body.

Everyone watched as Kendra's body was magically levitated into the air and rose out of the hole. She then landed in the snow in front of Bracken, just as his magic wore off.

"We're getting out of here right now," said Warren, as he held the Translocator out in front of everybody.

"There's too many of us," said Seth, who was unable to find any room on the Translocator to place his own hand on, no thanks in part to all of the dragons and reindeer that were currently touching it.

"Could all of the reindeer please back away from the Translocator?" asked Bracken. "It's too much to transport all eight of you, four dragons and the rest of us all in one trip. We need to get Kendra home now. We'll come back for you immediately."

The reindeer all backed off. With them out of the way, all of the humans, fairies and dragons were left touching the Translocator. Warren twisted it, transporting them all back to Fablehaven.

"Kendra, said Seth, as he and the others all let go of the Translocator. "Kendra, are you okay?"

"S-s-s-seth..." said Kendra, as her teeth chattered uncontrollably. "I'm f-f-f-freezing!"

"Can someone heal her?" asked Ingrid, as Warren used the Translocator to vanish out of sight.

"Consider it done," said Raxtus, as he exerted a stream of sparkling mist upon Kendra.

"Feeling any better?" asked Seth.

Kendra shook her head. "I'm not hurt. Just c-c-c-cold!"

At that moment, Warren and the reindeer all reappeared near the group.

"Kendra needs to get inside now," said Warren. Let's go."

Seth unzipped his jacket and removed his gloves, as he, the other humans and fairy angels led Kendra towards the house. As soon as they entered, the other members of the family soon greeted them in the entry hall.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Mrs. Sorenson.

"Bracken!" cried Grandpa. "You're all okay."

"Not Kendra," said Ingrid. "She's been freezing for quite some time now."

Grandma moved her hand towards Kendra and pressed it against her forehead. "Whoa! Kendra, you're freezing cold!"

"Kendra," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Come upstairs with me. I'm going to draw you a warm bath right now."

"Okay," said Kendra wearily.

"And I'll make you some herbal tea with honey," said Grandma. "I'll even bring it up to you, so you can drink it while you're soaking in the tub.

"That sounds great," said Kendra, as she proceeded to follow her mother up the stairs towards the second floor of the house.

"Thank goodness you're all okay," said Mr. Sorenson. "What happened?"

"We'll tell you everything while Kendra warms herself up," said Bracken.

"I hope she doesn't take too long," said Seth. "We've got to get back to World's End right away!"

"I don't think so," said Grandpa, shaking his head.

"But we've got fairies to rescue! Plus a score to settle with a certain dark unicorn."

"Absolutely not. It's very late now and you're all no doubt overtired. I insist that you all retire tonight, so that you can get a fresh start in the morning.

Seth sighed. "I understand, Grandpa. You're right. But first thing tomorrow morning, I want to go back to World's End and take care of any unfinished business."


	25. Out of Sight

**Chapter 25: Out of Sight**

Kendra proceeded to open her eyes. As the world around her suddenly blurred into view, she saw that she was back in the attic at Fablehaven, lying down on her bed. No longer was she freezing to death in a hole that she had produced in Antarctica; she was safe and warm back in the comfort of her own bed.

Taking a moment to reminisce about the previous night, Kendra recalled that she had been rescued by her allies, who in turn brought her back home. She couldn't remember much, except that she had taken a very warm bath, then drank a mug full of tea before plopping down in her bed and falling asleep.

Now that the experience was nothing but a bad memory, Kendra got out of bed and stretched, feeling completely refreshed. Looking over at the bed that was against the opposite wall of the attic, Kendra saw that Ingrid was still asleep in it.

Kendra glanced at her bedside clock and saw that the time was six fifty-three. She went over to Ingrid's bed and proceeded to gently shake her shoulder.

" _What_?" groaned Ingrid, wincing her head around as Kendra backed her own hand away. Ingrid slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Kendra. "Kendra! What do you _want_?"

"Last night..." said Kendra. "What happened?"

Ingrid let a slight moan. "Don't you remember? You were in the snow when we found you. We brought you back here. You took a hot bath, had some tea, then fell asleep almost immediately. Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel fine."

Ingrid smiled. "That's a relief. You looked like you were about to pass out when we found you."

"How did you all find me?" asked Kendra. "I was able to speak to Bracken with my coin. But like me, he was stranded, and we figured that the rest of you were as well."

"I don't know everyone's side of the story entirely," said Ingrid. "Let's get dressed and washed up, then we can speak to the others at the breakfast table."

Kendra and Ingrid both washed up in the bathroom, then changed into fresh clothes before making their way down into the dining room. All of the adults appeared to already be sitting down at the table, including Bracken and Clover.

"Glad to see you two are up bright and early," said Grandma, nodding at the girls as they stepped into the dining room.

"Kendra, do you feel all right?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"She seems to be a lot better than the condition we found her in last night," said Ingrid.

"That's a relief," said Mr. Sorenson. "I'm just glad that the worst of this is over."

"I'm afraid that isn't the case," said Bracken. "While we may have survived our run-in with Ronodin, the warlock himself is still at large."

"Seth better come down here soon," said Grandpa. "The sooner you guys can get back to business, the better. It's exactly why all of us are already up and at the table."

"I'll get him," said Dale, as he got up from his seat. "I bet he just needs a little wake-up call."

* * *

"Seth, get up," said Dale.

Feeling as his entire body was being shook around, Seth opened his eyes and that Dale was hovering over him. Seth was in his bed, and felt rather groggy.

"What's your problem, Dale?" whined Seth.

"Your grandfather wants you downstairs right now."

Seth let out a sigh. "What's _his_ problem?"

" **Now** , Seth," said Dale, as he pulled the entire top sheet off of Seth's body and draped it over the foot of the bed.

"Fine..." grumbled Seth, as he rolled out of bed. Once Dale left the room, Seth changed into a fresh set of clothes and made his way downstairs to the dining room, where the rest of the family was sitting at the table.

"Thank you for joining us," said Grandpa, as everyone else at the table greeted him.

"No thanks to _Dale_ ," muttered Seth, glancing at his cousin, who in turn rolled his eyes in response.

"Never mind him," said Mr. Sorenson. "We need you to be up and ready right now. Find yourself something to eat. Ronodin still needs to be dealt with."

Seth helped himself to a bowl of cereal, which he proceeded to eat. Once everyone was finished their breakfast, Mrs. Sorenson began to clear away people's dishes.

"Now that we've all eaten, does anyone have any questions about last night?" asked Grandpa. "Kendra?"

"How did you guys find me?" asked Kendra. "Or anyone?"

The group took turns explaining about how they had all been separated, and how Warren was able to escape using the Translocator and recruit Clover. From there, they talked about finding Seth, then sending out the reindeer to help find the others, including how Seth became an angel to find Ingrid. They also told Kendra about how Prancer was unable to find her, and how Seth used the Oculus to do so.

"I never expected anyone to come looking for me," said Kendra. "Especially not one of the reindeer."

"It's not your fault," said Grandma. "It's just one of those things that happened."

"I'm just thankful that all of you made it back in one piece," said Grandpa.

"But I'm still curious about one thing," said Kendra. "Seth, what did Ronodin intend to do with you? Is he still just fixated on obtaining your power somehow?"

"I _think_ so," replied Seth."I told you about when he spoke to me last night. He made a big fuss about my powers, obviously."

"Did he _do_ anything to you?" asked Ingrid.

"Not that I'm aware of. But, before he left, he said if I wasn't going to be of any help to him, that he would have to turn to someone else _more willing_."

"Someone else more willing?" asked Grandma, who displayed a confused look on her face. "Like who?"

"Oh my gosh," gasped Clover. "I hope he isn't referring to another angel, like Hope."

"Relax, sweetie," said Warren, placing a hand on Clover's arm. "If Ronodin could've gotten into Wingadoon, I'm sure he'd have done so already, rather than going after Seth."

"I know. Wingadoon's never been breached by an outsider. At least not without the assistance of an angel or pegasus. But who knows what Ronodin is fully capable of."

"Do you want to go back to Wingadoon?"

"Kind of," said Clover. "I know it's to early to jump to conclusions, but I'm concerned. On the other hand, I'm still want to help all of you. Ronodin is stronger than we imagined, and I feel that you could use my help."

"I understand," said Bracken. "And we appreciate the support."

"What about the fairies that are in Wingadoon?" asked Kendra. "Who'll look after them? Besides Hope and Air Flair, that is."

"I'll speak to Mother and see what we can do to help them while Clover is with us," replied Bracken. "Perhaps the other fairy angels can take turns checking in on them."

"That would be great," said Clover, nodding in approval. "But one thing still concerns me." She then looked around at the others who were sitting at the table. "When we found Seth, as well as the others, it was in the middle of the night. Ronodin might not have noticed Seth's absence when we initially rescued him. But that was hours ago. He's undoubtedly discovered that Seth is gone by now."

"So who's knows where Ronodin even is at this point?" asked Warren. "If he was so intent on capturing Seth, I wouldn't expect him to just sit around and do nothing after discovering that he's suddenly gone. For all we know, he could be miles away from World's End as we speak, planning to find a way to come after Seth again."

"Who's to say for sure?" asked Kendra. "We don't know _what_ Ronodin could be up to right now. He _might_ be running around somewhere, trying to get back at us. Or, he could be biding his time back at World's End."

"So, what should even be done at this point?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "The fairies from here are still trapped at World's End. But we have no way of knowing whether Ronodin is around to even guard them."

"Duh!" exclaimed Seth sarcastically. "Why are we fretting like this? We can just check up on Ronodin with the Oculus!"

"Except that didn't work before, remember?" asked Kendra.

"Maybe I can utilize my angel powers while searching for Ronodin. It worked for finding Ingrid."

"It's worth a try," said Grandpa. "That should clear things up for us for sure. Dale, would you mind going up and getting the Oculus for us?"

"Not at all," said Dale, as he got up from his seat and made his way out of the dining room. His footsteps continued through the house as he made his way upstairs and walked along the second floor.

A moment later, Dale returned to the first floor and made his way back into the dining room, holding in his hand the Oculus.

"Great," said Grandma, as Dale walked over to Seth and presented the Oculus to him.

"All right," said Seth, clenching the artifact firmly within his hands. "Now we can get to the bottom of this."

"Whenever you're ready, Seth," said Grandpa.

Seth closed his eyes and began to envision Ronodin in his mind. He knew exactly what he was looking for. Long, brown hair, sharp blue eyes and a well-built physique. After struggling for a few moments, Ronodin failed to materialize within Seth's mind.

"It's not working," muttered Seth. "I'm looking for Ronodin, but I can't find him!"

"Let me try," said Kendra.

"What difference will that make? I know how to use this thing, thank you very much. Besides, I was the last one of us to see him. He's freshest in my mind."

"So, why can't you find him? What about your angelic powers?"

"Just shut up and let me try it again!" snapped Seth.

As he had done so just a moment ago, Seth began to envision Ronodin in his head a second time. He tried as hard as he could to focus on Ronodin. However, the dark unicorn failed to manifest within Seth's vision.

"This isn't working!" groaned Seth, as he opened his eyes and slammed the Oculus against the top of the table.

"Seth, what's wrong?" asked Grandpa.

"I can't get the Oculus to locate Ronodin! But, I don't know why. And before you ask, Kendra, I know what I'm doing."

"This wouldn't be the first time the Oculus has been unable to find someone," said Kendra. "It didn't have the power to locate Murdred, or anything within or from the Demon Domain."

"But why can't it locate Ronodin?" asked Ingrid. "You two were able to locate him with the Oculus just recently! Now it suddenly doesn't work? Why?"

"Because he's a unicorn," replied Warren. "That alone grants him some sort of immunity to being detected by the Oculus."

"Then how come Seth was able to locate Bracken in Antarctica with it?" asked Ingrid.

"It may have been because I had exhausted my strength while I was down there," replied Bracken. "With reduced power, perhaps I lost the strength to shield me from being detected by the Oculus. In a way, I had inadvertently enabled you to make finding me a possibility.

"Man, I never even thought of that when I was looking for everybody," said Seth.

"So, how are we supposed to locate Ronodin, then?" asked Kendra. "With three powerful horns at his disposal, it doesn't seem like his power is going to run dry any time soon."

"Guess the Oculus is out of the question, then." said Ingrid.

"Then what should we do?" asked Seth. "Searching for Ronodin doesn't seem like it's even possible."

"Maybe searching for Ronodin is where we're going wrong," said Grandma.

"What do you mean?" asked Ingrid.

"It's pretty obvious that trying to find Ronodin by use of the Oculus is a lost cause. So try not searching for him. Try searching for something related to him. Like that orange wyvern he was riding on, or that fairy he was with. Or one of our own captured fairies."

"I got it," said Seth, as he proceeded to pick up the Oculus again and clenched it within his hands. "I'll think about Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod. I know pretty well what they look like, so this'll be a cinch!"

Seth closed his eyes and began to envision Larissa in his mind. He thought about Larissa, and how she was mostly blue, including her hair, dress, crescent moon-shaped wings and overall sheen. However, the blue fairy did not appear for Seth.

"Are you finding anyone?"

"I couldn't find Larissa," said Seth. "I'll try Goldenrod."

Seth began to focus on Goldenrod. He pictured the fairy, complete with her wavy, canary yellow hair, dress, and wings that resembled flower petals. As had been the case with Larissa, Seth was unsuccessful in spotting Goldenrod.

"What's wrong, Seth?" asked Grandpa.

"Goldenrod's not showing up for me either."

"Something must definitely be wrong with the Oculus," said Kendra. "Or rather, with something that Ronodin has done to hamper its power."

"I guess we can rule out trying to look for Passion as well, then," said Warren.

"If neither Larissa nor Goldenrod could be seen, then it's probably safe to assume that Ronodin has done something to obscure all of the fairies that are trapped at World's End from the Oculus," said Grandma.

"Then maybe we should just search for something else," said Ingrid. "Like that strange fairy. Or that wyvern. Or heck, just the preserve itself. As long as long as someone can just see into the preserve, they can look around at their leisure."

"Let me try," said Kendra, as she grabbed the Oculus out of her brother's hand, only for him to begrudgingly let go of it. "I'm the only one who's had a good look at both the fairy and the wyvern.

"Fine," said Seth, knowing that trying to resist his sister's request at this point would seem utterly pointless. He found himself unable to think of any reason not to.

Now in control of the Oculus, Kendra held it firmly within her hand, Immediately, she began to focus on the unknown fairy figure whom she had spotted with Ronodin on her previous searches through the Oculus. She thought about the fairy's purple hair and clef-shaped wings. However, nothing was coming into her view.

"See anything, Kendra?" asked Bracken.

"No," replied Kendra. "Seth may be onto something though. I can't find that fairy, and I wouldn't be surprised if I'm unable to find that wyvern too. I'm going to just search for the preserve in general."

Kendra shifted her focus from that of the mystery fairy to the landscape of the World's End preserve. Despite being situated in an enormous underground cavern, the preserve actually gave off a vibe of being beautiful when the group had gone done there, full of luscious plant life, hills and streams.

Ultimately, the preserve itself was failing to come into view, prompting Kendra to shake her head and open her eyes.

"This is really strange," said Kendra, as the living room shifted into view. "I can't even search for the preserve as whole. It's like the Oculus is unable to locate the preserve, or anything within it. Ronodin must have the whole preserve under some sort of protective spell. I think it's safe to say that he's done his homework."

"His spell can only go so far," said Warren. "Kendra, try searching for the entrance to the preserve. You know, the area on the surface that leads into the tunnel. I don't believe that it's technically part of the preserve."

"Okay, I'll try."

Kendra closed her eyes, this time focusing on the above ground entrance to World's End. She thought about the antarctic landscape, complete with the entrance of the long tunnel that led into the preserve.

Surely enough, a snowscape came into Kendra's field of vision. It was the entrance to World's End, and she could see the tunnel that went underground.

"This is working," said Kendra. "I couldn't get in to World's End directly, but I was able to land myself outside of it."

"Yes!" exclaimed Warren. "We just had to think outside the box. Or rather, think outside the preserve."

Kendra shifted her viewpoint around, so that she was able to advance herself forward and into the tunnel. She proceeded to move down the tunnel, in hope that she would soon be able to pass into the preserve proper once she reached the end.

After progressing for a minute or so, the end of the tunnel came into view. Kendra could see the edge of World's End coming into her sight, as indicated by the trees that were in the distance at the end of the tunnel. At the rate she was progressing, Kendra was only mere seconds away from coming out through the end of the tunnel.

Just as Kendra reached the end of the tunnel, everything suddenly went black. Kendra was in shock. No longer could she see the world around her. It had all inexplicably disappeared. She tried to focus on what she had seen, but it wasn't doing anything.

"Something weird just happened," said Kendra, as she opened her eyes and brought herself back to the real world.

"What's that?" asked Bracken. "Couldn't you get into World's End?"

"No," said Kendra, shaking her head. "I was able to get to the entrance all right, but when I tried to pass into the actual preserve, the world around me just... disappeared."

"This does not sound good," said Grandpa. "It's as if World's End really is under some sort of protective spell. One that it preventing unwanted eyes from looking into it. And possibly Ronodin and the others as well."

"So where does that leave us?" asked Seth.

"It's risky, but at this point, the only viable option would be to return to World's End and see what you can do this time."


	26. Tunnel Vision

**Chapter 26: Tunnel Vision**

Having finished up their breakfast, the group made their usual preparations to prepare themselves for their return World's End. Once everybody had washed up, gotten their gear together and put on warm clothes, the group made their way out of the house and over to the entrance of the dragon family's lair.

"You guys ready to head back to World's End?" asked Kendra, as she stared into the small cave, just in time to watch as the dragons all walked out of it.

"Back there?" asked Skyfrost. "Back to where we encountered Ronodin?"

"Uh, yeah," said Warren, speaking nonchalantly.

"Aren't you forgetting what happened the last time we tried that?" asked Geminus. "Ronodin just up and zapped us, scattering all of us across the vastness of Antarctica!"

"Yeah," noted Firesquall. "What's to stop him from just doing that same thing again?"

"Ronodin may have gotten away with that trick once," said Clover, "but we're not going to fall for it a second time. We'll ready for him."

"How's that?" asked Seth, wondering what Clover was even talking about.

"Clover and I were discussing this little predicament just last night," replied Bracken. "There's a good chance that if Ronodin sees us again, he's going to try and send us all away like he did yesterday."

"However, since Ronodin is a unicorn, it means that his true magic is much like the kind that us fairies and unicorns utilize for ourselves," said Clover.

"Which means...?" asked Seth.

"Which means that us fairies can cast enchantments upon all of us to protect us from being transported away by Ronodin, should he attempt to do so himself."

"In other words, if Ronodin tries to warp us away this time, it won't work?" asked Ingrid.

"That's the plan," replied Bracken.

"Cool!" said Seth. "What else will this protect us from?"

Bracken and Clover both stared at each other, then turned their heads back towards everybody else.

"Not much, really," replied Clover, expressing a look of disappointment on her face. "We don't have the power to cast an all-purpose protection enchantment. Of course, this enchantment is only a safety net. One that we'd rather not have to fall into if we can avoid it."

"Well, it's something," said Kendra.

"Look, we've got nothing to lose," said Warren. "So let's not look a gift unicorn in the mouth, huh?"

"Okay, Clover," said Bracken. "Let's do this."

Bracken and Clover both held out their hands. Kendra and Seth watched in awe as the fairy angels' hands began to glow. Streams of colorful sparkles flowed out from their hands and into the air, whirling their way around the entire lot of humans, dragons and fairies that made up the group.

After a moment, Bracken and Clover's hands stopped glowing, and the sparkles that were flying around suddenly faded away.

"That should do it," said Bracken. "If Ronodin tries to banish us again, it won't work!"

"This enchantment isn't permanent," said Clover. "But it should protect us for longer than we'll likely even need it."

"I don't feel any different," said Seth, who found himself unable to detect any semblance of change now that the enchantment had been cast.

"You're not supposed to be able to feel it," said Bracken. "So that's good. And I can assure you that it's working."

"Are we all good to go?" asked Geminus.

"I believe so," said Clover. "So long as everybody's ready. If anyone has any unfinished business, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

"I think we're all good to go," said Warren, looking around at the group, no doubt trying to see if anyone had any objection against leaving.

Warren proceeded to remove the Translocator from his bag, then went ahead and wound it up before holding it out in front of himself. Everyone then held out either a hand or a claw, which they pressed against the Translocator.

"Here we go," said Warren, using his free hand to untwist the Translocator. He then moved his hand away from the artifact.

Kendra and Seth had both anticipated having the Translocator sending them all away at that very moment. But instead, they were still standing in the yard at Fablehaven, as if nothing had happened.

"Warren, what's wrong?" asked Raxtus.

"I don't know," said Warren. "It should've transported up already."

"Is the Translocator even working?" asked Ingrid.

"It was working fine last night," said Warren, as he fumbled with the upper segment of the Translocator. "And nobody could've been tampering with it since then."

"Try it again," said Seth.

"I _am_ trying it again."

"Maybe you've lost your touch,"

"I know the ins and outs of the Transloctator better than you do," said Warren.

"Would you two **cut it out**?" exclaimed Kendra, as she sighed and turned to face Ingrid. "Boys..."

"You've got a better idea?" asked Seth.

"Yeah. There's clearly nothing wrong with the Translocator. Think about it for a minute. We couldn't see into World's End, because Bracken theorized that there's some sort of protective spell around the preserve now. And whatever it is, it's probably also preventing the Translocator from passing through, which is why it's unable to move us."

"If we can't warp to World's End, what does that mean?" asked Skyfrost. "We gotta fly all the way down there?"

"Nah," said Ingrid. "We should still be able to take the Translocator to somewhere just outside the preserve. And then we can just head on in from there, right?"

"I dunno," said Bracken. "If we go back through that tunnel, who's to say that Ronodin won't have something there waiting for us?"

"It's a risk we're going to have to take," said Warren.

"If it's a distractor spell, it'll be no problem for us," said Raxtus.

"It'll be a distractor spell if we're _lucky_. I hate to think what Ronodin could have to protect the preserve now that he knows we're on to him."

"We still need to go," said Kendra. "Even if we're unable to take on Ronodin, we still need to rescue the fairies that he's keeping imprisoned."

"You've got a point," said Raxtus. "Warren, use the Translocator to send us to the entrance to World's End."

"Okay," said Warren, as he twisted the Translocator and held it out for everyone to touch once again. "Let's try this one more time."

Once everyone had made contact with the Translocator again, Warren twisted it, his mind no doubt set on sending the group elsewhere, as opposed to where he had attempted to do so previously.

In the blink of an eye, Kendra and Seth could feel themselves being hurled through space by the power of the Translocator. No sooner had the surrounding yard of Fablehaven faded away, did the snowbound tundra of Antarctica appear around them.

"Man, I'm glad we dressed for this," said Seth, gripping the sleeves of his jacket to brace himself as a cool gust of wind blew against his body.

"There's the tunnel," said Ingrid, directing the group's attention over to the direction she had been pointing in. Everyone else turned to face where Ingrid had pointed. Several yards away from where they were currently standing was the entrance to the tunnel that led into World's End.

"I guess this is it," said Bracken. "Might as well get this over with. But we all need to be on our guard."

Kendra and Bracken proceeded to get up onto Bracken's back. Likewise, Seth and Ingrid got onto Skyfrost and Geminus while Warren and Clover boarded Firesquall.

With their riders on each of their backs, the dragons all extended their wings and drifted up into the air by several feet. They then slowly soared over to the tunnel entrance and proceeded to fly into it.

"Hey, Kendra," said Bracken, who was sitting behind her atop Raxtus, "exactly how far into the tunnel were you actually able to see before the Oculus gave up on you?"

"It was right around the end, actually," said Kendra, who could faintly make out a bit of light that was flowing through the end of the tunnel in the distance. "Once I hit that point, it just stopped."

"Whoa!" exclaimed Bracken. "Everybody! Wait a minute! Land! Land!"

"Bracken, what's the matter?" asked Skyfrost, as he and the other dragons all dropped down for a sudden landing in the middle of the tunnel.

"Rushing in like this is starting to seem like a bad idea. Whatever Ronodin did to repel the powers of the Oculus and the Translocator, who's to say there's something else in store for us once we pass through the end of this tunnel?"

"What if we can't even get through?" asked Clover. "Or we make it through, but there's something on the other side that's preventing us from leaving?"

"She's got a point," said Geminus. "If the Translocator couldn't get us _in_ to World's End, it's reason to believe that it might not be able to get us _out_ either."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked Seth. "We didn't come down here just to turn away, did we?"

"I've got it," said Bracken. "I'll scan the area ahead. Hopefully, I'll be able to detect any unforeseen surprises that Ronodin may have in store for us."

"What kind of surprises?" asked Ingrid."

"Well, I'm not clairvoyant or anything. But at this range, I should be able to sense the enchantment around the preserve that's managed to repel the power of the artifacts."

Bracken proceeded to drop down off of Bracken. He then allowed himself to transform into his unicorn form.

"Is this really gonna work?" asked Ingrid, as Bracken, now a four-legged, single-horned equine, stepped up to the front of the group.

"I hope so. At least we'll know if it's safe or not to pass through."

Warren scoffed. "Since when has venturing into enemy territory ever qualified as a _safe_ activity?"

His body facing forward, Bracken closed his eyes, allowing his horn began to emit a white glow. Even though he remained completely still, and nobody else could sense what Bracken was experiencing, the rest of the group all opted to watch the unicorn in awe.

After a moment, Bracken's horn stopped glowing, as he went ahead and opened his eyes.

"What did you see, Bracken?" asked Kendra, as Bracken turned around to face the group.

"Well, there definitely is _some_ sort of enchantment surrounding World's End," replied Bracken, as he proceeded to transform back into his avatar form. "It's quite powerful, unlike anything I've ever witnessed before in my life. But it _does_ have the handiwork of fairy magic to it."

"How are we even supposed to get past it, then?" asked Seth.

"The barrier only seems to exist in an ethereal capacity. But beyond that and the regular distractor spell that's always been in place, there doesn't seem to be anything stopping us from going forward?"

"And what lies _beyond_ the entrance?" asked Clover.

"That..." said Bracken, "is something I was unable to find out."

"I guess we better press on, then," said Warren, as Bracken got back up onto Raxtus, seating himself back behind Kendra.

The dragons rose back up into the air and continued to soar down the tunnel. Before too long, they passed through the end of the tunnel and had emerged in World's End once again.

"Well, we managed to traverse the barrier without any problems," said Raxtus, as he and the other dragons all stopped in midair, floating over the clearing situated at the entrance to the preserve.

"It's what could be lying beyond the barrier that has me worried," said Bracken.

"You'd think Ronodin would've done a better job of keeping us out," said Seth, as he turned back to look at the tunnel.

"I've got two theories about all this," said Warren. "Either Ronodin doesn't have the power to properly deter us from entering the preserve. Or..."

"Or _what_?" asked Ingrid.

"Or Ronodin _wants_ us to be able to enter the preserve, so he left the place open on purpose. And to be perfectly honest, I really hope it's the former."

"So far so good," said Geminus. "But we need to be extremely careful from here on out. There's a good chance that Ronodin already knows we're here."

The dragons proceeded to fly into the woods that lay before them. Opting to not fly over the main path leading towards the central yard, they instead flew between the trees. As they continued forward, the dragons weaved around each and every tree that was in their path, all while making sure to not stray too far to the side, so as to not lose sight of the main path.

"This place being a preserve, I half expect that we'll run into an exotic magical creature somewhere," said Ingrid, as the group whizzed past some more trees.

"Had this place not been overthrown, we would've," said Kendra. "It's such a shame that this place didn't survive the Society's takeover. And with them out of the picture, Ronodin's seized the preserve for his own personal gain."

"If we can somehow deal with Ronodin and get him out of here, would this place ever get restored to its former glory?" asked Clover.

"I'll have a long talk with Stan and Trask about that," said Warren. "This place has been a low priority since Zzyzx. But hopefully _Lieutenant Burgess_ here will convince them to expedite the process."

The dragons then slowed down once they approached the edge of the yard, where the forested area came to an end. Staying behind the trees, they then circled around the yard, until the were near the enclosure where the fairies from Fablehaven were still being housed.

"You're back!" exclaimed one of the fairies from within the enclosure. It was impossible for Kendra to identify which of the one-hundred-plus fairies had spoken, as they were all floating around in a flurry.

"Help us!" cried another fairy.

"Keep it down," said Bracken, speaking in a soft voice. "I know you're all tense, but ..."

Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit the ground between the group and the cage.

"That's quite enough!" shouted Ronodin, whose voice had come from up above.

Everyone looked up and saw that Maelstrom, the large, orange wyvern from before was now hovering in the air above them. Peering down at the group from the top of her head was Ronodin.

"No!" muttered Kendra, who felt as though someone had reached their hand into her chest and squeezed her heart with immense force.

"What do we do?" asked Firesquall. "We can't take on a wyvern that size!"

Seth looked at Skyfrost, then up at Maelstrom. Compared to the full-grown adult, Skyfrost and Firesquall were tiny. There was no way that they could compare to her.

"Run!" cried Warren, just as Maelstrom shot another bolt of lightning from her mouth.

The dragons all bolted away from the lightning, only for the wyvern to follow them across the forest.

"Give it up!" exclaimed Ronodin, as he and Maelstrom neared in on the group, attempting to blast them with another lightning bolt.

"We can't out-fly a wyvern!" gasped Geminus.

"Well w _e_ can!" said Firesquall.

As he glanced back at Ronodin and the wyvern, Seth saw still able to see the enclosure in the distance.

"I didn't come here to just run away!" snapped Seth. "Skyfrost, you're fast. We're going back for those fairies."

"Are you crazy?" asked Skyfrost.

"Probably. But I think it's my inner angel telling me to be a hero."

"Go!" said Warren. "I trust you guys. We'll try to hold off Ronodin and Maelstrom. Come on Ingrid!"

Firesquall proceeded to exhale a stream of fire through the air towards Ronodin. Meanwhile, Skyfrost veered around and proceeded to fly past Maelstrom, back towards the enclosure.

Maelstrom retaliated by opening her mouth and blasted a huge stream of water towards Firesquall, who narrowly managed to fly out of the way.

"You stupid thing!" exclaimed Ingrid. "Take this!"

Ingrid held out the Diavolt and proceeded to blast Maelstrom's gushing mouth with a blast of her own lightning. However, it didn't seem to so much as faze Maelstrom.

Ronodin laughed. "You really think that your electricity's going to hurt a creature that can conjure up electricity of her own?"

Meanwhile, Skyfrost had landed back next to the fairy enclosure, with Seth still on his back.

"We made it," said Skyfrost. "What's your plan?"

"This," replied Seth, as he pulled out the Pyruby. "All you fairies, get back!"

All the fairies flew up against the far end of the cage. Seth then exerted a blast of fire from the Pyruby at the front of the cage, making sure to produce an extremely hot flame from the relic as he did so. After a moment, Seth brought the flame to a stop. The wires that had been scorched by the flame were now glowing a bright orange.

"I gotcha," said Skyfrost. "Now it's my turn!"

Skyfrost then opened his mouth and exhaled a blast of icy mist upon the wire that Seth had scorched. At that same moment, Seth turned around and saw that Maelstrom was flying back towards him.

"Hurry!" cried Seth, as he prodded Skyfrost's head several times rapidly. "They're onto us!"

Skyfrost held back his tail, then slammed it against the frozen wall of the enclosure, causing it to shatter into hundred of little pieces. At that moment, the fairies that had been inside the enclosure all flew out of it.

"That does it!" blared Ronodin, just as Maelstrom landed just a few yards in front of Seth and Skyfrost. "Your little game ends _now_!"

"No!" cried Warren, who flew up towards Ronodin on Firesquall from behind.

Ronodin proceeded to zap Warren and Firesquall with a blue beam of energy with one hand, which they barely dodged. A split second later, Ronodin shot another blue beam out of his other hand and directed it at Seth. It hit him.

"Seth!" gasped Skyfrost, just as Raxtus, Geminus and their riders caught up with the others.

"I feel... very weird," said Seth, who was feeling not only woozy, but as though he was losing control of his body, like he was about to fade away. Kendra witnessed as Seth's entire body had now been encompassed by the blue glow.

"We've gotta get him out of here," said Clover.

"I've got one trick that just might work," said Bracken. "Everyone, gather near Seth!"

"You can't help him now," said Ronodin, as the rest of the group flew down towards Seth, who had now stopped glowing, but was seemingly unconscious.

"Begone!" said Ronodin, as he attempted to blast the group with another beam of blue energy. However, it failed to have any effect on them. "What gives?"

"Not this time," said Bracken, as he flailed his hands around, causing a large energy bubble to appear around the entire group, as well as the fairies.

"What are you _doing_?" asked Ronodin.

"Warren, use the Translocator! Send us home!"

"What?" asked Warren. "But it won't work here! And we're not all touching it!"

"Don't ask questions!" blurted Bracken. "Just do it! This barrier will do the rest."

Warren quickly whipped out the Translocator. He then wound it up and twisted it again. At that moment, Kendra could feel herself being pulled in through its power.


	27. Duped

**Chapter 27: Duped**

The moment that the sensation of being hurled through the Translocator had come to a stop, Kendra opened her eyes. No longer were she and her allies cowering for cover inside of an energy bubble at World's End. Instead, they were all standing back in the yard at Fablehaven.

"We made it!" exclaimed Ingrid, as she jumped down from off of Geminus' back. "All of us! Even the fairies!"

"Thank you for saving us!" said Passion, as she flew up towards the front of the buzzing crowd of fluttering fairies.

"But what about Seth?" asked Larissa, as she and several other fairies flew up to Seth, who was lying on Skyfrost's back, seemingly unconscious.

"I don't know what it was that Ronodin did to him," said Bracken, who had gotten off of Raxtus and walked over towards Skyfrost and Seth.

"Seth and Skyfrost saved us," said Goldenrod. "All of you did. Us fairies are all very thankful."

"I can't believe that even worked," said Raxtus. "Bracken, what did you to get us all out of there?"

"I enhanced the range of the Translocator to transport everyone who was within that energy field I cast, whether or not they were making contact with the artifact."

"But, how did it work?" asked Warren. "World's End has that protective barrier all around it."

"True," replied Bracken. "But back when I surveyed the area, I noticed specifically that the barrier had been repelling outside magic from getting in. However, I had a theory that it wasn't capable of stopping unwanted magic from passing out of it. That's why I didn't say anything in case I'd been wrong."

"A theory?" asked Kendra. "I'm glad you were right, Bracken. But you should've told us! We had no idea _what_ you were planning! What if it didn't work?"

"Look, I was fretting way too much to think about. A lot was rushing through my mind. Ronodin and Maelstrom were chasing us, and Seth got hit by that strange energy attack."

"You think he's okay?" asked Skyfrost, as Geminus lifted Seth off of his back and cradled his sleeping body in her arms.

"I'm not sure _what's_ happened to him," said Geminus, looking down at Seth. "In fact, I don't think any of us actually do."

"Let's get him inside," said Warren, as he wound up the Translocator. "I'm going to send him back to his room so that he can rest. Hopefully he either wakes up, or we're able to figure out what's really going on."

Warren placed Seth's hand on the Translocator. He then twisted it again, causing the two of them to suddenly vanish into thin air.

The group waited around for a moment. Before long, Warren came out of the house, followed by most of the other adults.

"Warren told us what happened," said Grandpa.

"What about Seth?" asked Ingrid.

"Seth is safe and sound on his bed," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Grandma is up there watching over him."

"Thank goodness," said Bracken, as he turned to face the fairies. "Now, about your predicament. How did Ronodin and Maelstrom get all of you out of Fablehaven?"

"It was a lyrabelle!" exclaimed Goldenrod. "Ronodin used her to lure us all out of Fablehaven the other night."

"He did _what_?"

"A lyra-what?" asked Kendra.

"A lyrabelle," replied Clover. "It's a type of fairy that always sings. They're very rare, though."

"They're closely related to Jinn Harps," said Dale, "but I've never seen or heard one myself. It's said that they sing their words as though they would speak."

"How would singing lure all of you fairies out of Fablehaven?" asked Grandpa.

"We don't know," replied Larissa. "We heard this beautiful voice and something just... overtook our will to remain at Fablehaven."

"We heard the voice and we had to follow it," said Passion. "It led us out of the preserve."

"That's just strange," said Geminus. "I know that lyrabelles are rare, but I've never heard of one with such... _mesmerizing_ powers."

"Of course!" exclaimed Bracken. "Kendra, that fairy whom you saw with Ronodin and Maelstrom! You said she looked African, with purple hair and clef-shaped wings?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Goldenrod, as she and several other fairies all nodded. "That's her!"

"Okay," said Warren. "That solves the mystery of the mysterious third figure."

"The mystery only thickens," said Bracken. "I know that none of us know a ton about lyrabelles, but one thing is for certain. How big was that lyrabelle?"

"She was tall," said Kendra. "About the size of Clover or Bright."

The fairies nodded in agreement.

"That's what worries me," said Bracken. "A lyrabelle should normally be the size of a typical fairy. Not that of a fairy angel! This lyrabelle must've had its powers enhanced and amplified. And probably by Ronodin no less."

"So that's how this lyrabelle managed to attract all of you fairies out of Fablehaven!" said Clover. "With her power, she could probably direct her voice halfway across the preserve at you fairies. And since you heard it, her enhanced power drew you all away from the garden, then down and through the front gate, where Ronodin was successful in catching you."

"I'm afraid so," said Goldenrod. "We just didn't understand how it was possible."

"There's one thing I don't get," said Ingrid. "I understand that this lyrabelle's powers were seemingly enhanced by Ronodin. But what doesn't make sense is how only the fairies in the yard could've been lured in by her voice, let alone be the only ones to even so much as hear it."

"Lyrabelles don't normally even so much as have the ability to attract other fairies, or any creatures for that matter," said Bracken. "They sing naturally all the time. But it's to impress, not for anything that could ever be considered malicious. How Ronodin managed to come across one that can do what it's done is fairly intriguing."

"Either way, it appears that we will need to look into this lyrabelle business a bit more thoroughly," said Grandpa. "There used to be a lyrabelle living at Fablehaven years ago. Sweet girl, actually. However, I ended up trading her to Maddox one day. Kinda miss having her around, but he assured me she wound up in a good home."

"What about Seth?" asked Skyfrost.

"I'm not sure," said Grandpa. "Now that we understand what happened, perhaps Bracken and Clover can come upstairs and look at him more thoroughly in the comfort of the home.

The group made their way into the house, where they walked upstairs to the second floor and into Seth's bedroom. Lying down on his bed was Seth. Sitting in a chair next to him was Grandma.

"How is he, Ruth?" asked Grandpa.

"I'm not sure," replied Grandma. "He's just lying there. He's breathing, but he's not responding."

"He's been through a lot," said Warren. "But, you don't suppose Ronodin's power has weakened him, do you?"

"It's hard to say," replied Bracken. "Even though he's unconscious, Seth still appears to be healthy. Still, there may be some unwanted power lingering within him. Clover, maybe we can give his body a little boost."

"Got it," said Clover.

Bracken and Clover extended their hands over Seth. Kendra watched as green and rainbow-colored sparkles rained down from their hands and onto Seth, who seemingly absorbed them into his body.

"Is that going to do anything?" asked Mrs. Sorenson. "He still looks the same."

"If there have been any alterations to Seth's body, this should restore him back to normal," replied Clover.

Ingrid looked down at Seth, then sighed. "I wonder what's going on in Seth's mind right now."

* * *

Feeling somewhat groggy, Seth managed to sense that his body was seemingly in some sort of awkward position. He felt like he had fallen asleep at the bottom of what might as well have been a very large bowl.

Opening his eyes, Seth discovered that he was indeed inside some sort of large, rounded vessel, the sides of which were clear. Looking upwards, Seth saw that the walls of the vessel extended upward to the ceiling. The interior of the entire vessel appeared to be entirely round, as though Seth was inside some sort of clear, yet enormous ball. Or was the ball smaller than it seemed, and had he just been shrunk? Still somewhat dazed, that last thing Seth could remember was being hit by a strange beam of energy, courtesy of Ronodin.

"Come on," said Ronodin. "Wake up."

Startled by the presence of Ronodin's voice, Seth turned his head around. Standing on the other side of the glass was Ronodin, who was glaring at Seth, arms crossed.

Unable to think of a response, Seth stared back at Ronodin in awe. What was going on, and where was he? Looking past Ronodin, all that Seth could see was that they were in a large, barren grey room. Seth noticed a few pipes running along the ceiling, giving him the impression that they were likely underground.

"Ronodin?" asked Seth, as he stood up and pressed his hands up against the glass that was between himself and the warlock. Now that he was on his feet, Seth realized that the container he was in was sufficiently large enough for him to stand up in. "What's going on? What is this place? Where are the others? What did you do?"

Ronodin smiled back at Seth. "If only you would've cooperated with me in the first place, none of us would've had to go through all of this trouble."

"What is this... _thing_?" asked Seth, looking around at his spherical confinement. He then noticed that the clothes that were on his body were not the same as the ones he had been wearing previously. In fact, even though they fit him, the clothes that Seth was wearing now were ones that he had never so much as ever worn before.

"This _thing_ is a chamber that I have constructed. It can amplify light energy. However, raw magical energy from fairies is not enough. It needs the power of an angelic being to properly function. And that's where _you_ come in to play."

"You captured me _again_?" asked Seth. "Just to exploit my power so that you could run this stupid creation of yours?"

"It's hardly what I would call _stupid_ ," said Ronodin. "In fact, I consider it to be revolutionary. For you see, with this chamber, I can harness your angelic energy and amplify it tremendously. The sheer power of it will obliterate any demon in its path."

"That's just... wrong. If you go around destroying demons left and right, you're no better than they are."

"I don't need to argue about semantics with you, because you're in the chamber, and I'm out here."

Seth groaned. "At least tell me where we are right now."

"Very well," said Ronodin. "We are in the basement of my house at World's End."

"And where are the other members of my group? What did you do with them? Where are they?"

"They're not here. They left."

"Without me?" asked Seth, as a million thoughts raced through his head. "Look, I don't know what you did earlier to keep me from leaving with them, but I know for a fact that the rest of my allies are already on their way back here to rescue me."

Ronodin could only smile as he shook his head.

"That's the beauty of my plan, Seth. Your friends aren't going to be coming back as quickly as you'd like them to."

"And why is that?" asked Seth, pondering to himself about what Ronodin could even be talking about.

Ronodin looked over at Seth, then turned his head away and ran a hand through his long, flowing hair.

"Seth, by any chance are you familiar with what a _stingbulb_ is?"

Just upon hearing the word "stingbulb", thousands of images of a duplicate of himself running around back home at Fablehaven, with nobody else the wiser, rushed through Seth's head.

"A stingbulb?" asked Seth. "You made a _stingbulb_ out of me? But... how? Stingbulbs take hours to grow! If you sent a stingbulb back in my place, I think my allies might notice."

"That is true. Except for the fact that I pricked you back when I was letting you stay in the guest bedroom."

"What? When? I don't remember that!"

"Of course not. I pricked you while you were asleep! I was going to send Victor back to Fablehaven once he had fully matured, but..."

" _Victor_?" asked Seth.

"Giving him a name was the least I could do. What was I supposed to call him? I could have kept calling him Seth. But "Seth" is already _your_ name. And unlike you, _Victor_ listens to me."

"You think a stingbulb's going to fool anyone? They don't have any powers! When they can't sense that he doesn't have any angelic qualities, the fairies at Fablehaven are going to smell that he's a fraud from a mile away!"

"Don't be so sure," said Ronodin. "You see, Victor is no ordinary stingbulb. He is what I have dubbed a _superbulb_."

"A superbulb?" asked Seth, who could already sense that he wasn't looking forward to hearing an answer upon giving his cautious response.

"You sound as though you are already familiar with what a stingbulb is. So I'll get straight to the point. A superbulb is a specially-cultivated stingbulb of my own design. An enhanced stingbulb. A perfect stingbulb."

"What do you mean?"

"A typical stingbulb can only assume the form of whomever it pricks for a few days. Then it dies off. A complete waste. But a superbulb? Well, I think it's safe to assume that they have the same life expectancy as the being whom they were derived from.

"You mean Victor is going to..."

"Live a full life, just as long as your own? Why yes. Mentally and physically, he's the same age as you. And so long as he stays alive, he'll age at the same rate as you would. Victor can stay at Fablehaven for as long as he wants, and nobody will be the wiser that he isn't actually you! Heck, nobody even knew that I made you and Victor swap places when I did!"

"You!" snarled Seth, as he smacked his fist against his glass confinement.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Ronodin. "Unlike a normal stingbulb, a superbulb can mimic all of the magical powers and abilities of whomever it's taken the form of, should they have any. So Victor has all of the same angelic qualities that you do. Qualities that are sure to help convince your family that he's supposed to be you."

"Why are you doing this? No, really. If you can create a perfect duplicate of myself, with my same exact powers and everything, why are you keeping _me_ hostage? You could've just kept Victor all to yourself, and not dragged me into this further than you already have."

"That was a highly thought-provoking question. You see, Seth. Your angelic powers are not something that I, or even Victor himself, entirely understand. Even with his utmost cooperation and loyalty, we were unable to properly trigger them."

"So when you and Victor were unable to figure out how to utilize his powers, you went for me instead. The real McCoy."

"Of course. You've clearly demonstrated the ability to use your powers in the past. And now that I have you here where I want you, I'm going to make sure that you do the same for me. And with Victor standing in for you at Fablehaven, you're going to stay right here until you cooperate."

Seth took in a deep breath. "You want me to assume my angelic form, just so that you can exploit my power and get this... contraption that I'm in to work properly?"

"Exactly!" blurted Ronodin. "Assume your angelic form, so that I may channel your power through this chamber and eradicate all dark beings that remain in this world once and for all!"

Seth did not respond. Instead, he proceeded to breathe very slowly and heavily, before slamming his foot down upon the floor of the chamber.

"Easy, Seth. I don't wish to keep you around indefinitely. In fact, I don't even see you as my enemy. Help me now, and I will happily allow you to return home. And then we can move on with our lives. All that I want from you is for you to lend me your powers, so that I can get my amplification chamber up and running."

"Listen, Ronodin!" exclaimed Seth. "I can't do that! Even if I wanted to, which I don't!"

"Very well, Seth. "Why _can't_ you do that? What's is stopping you from becoming an angel right now?"

"I can't just _become_ an angel anytime I want. That requires love. Or at least an excessive flow of light energy. And I don't think that's something that a dark unicorn such as yourself can provide me with."

Ronodin smacked his hands together. "I tried infusing you with my own power before, and that didn't work out so well. It may be because I have been tainted with darkness myself."

"And you certainly don't love me. So you can forget about trying to exploit my power!"

Ronodin sighed. "I don't suppose... No! Never mind!"

"Never mind _what_?" asked Seth.

"I said never mind! I suppose that the fairies that I had here may have had the power to bring forth your angelic form. Oh, but that's right. You and your friends came over and freed them!"

"You're mad about _that_? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!"

Ronodin scowled at Seth. "That's enough out of you. I'm going off to find some more power. And when I return, I'll use it to bring out your angelic form. Meanwhile, you can wait right there until I come back! Goodbye!"

Ronodin then turned around and began to walk away from the chamber.

"You're just going to leave me in here?"

"You can't break out," replied Ronodin. "And there's nobody here to help you. But don't worry. I'll come back for you in time. And when I do, I will finally be able to carry through with my little plan. I'll see you later, Seth."

Having said that, Ronodin made his way up a staircase situated against the far wall of the basement. Seth watched as Ronodin proceeded to walk up the stairs, then passed through and closed a door that was at the top.


	28. Victor

**Chapter 28: Victor**

Lying down on her bed, Kendra couldn't help but stare directly up at the ceiling above her. Her mind was blank. The situation regarding Seth had left her feeling frazzled.

An entire hour had passed since the group had returned home after their ordeal in World's End. Seth had been hit by a strange energy blast that had been inflicted upon him by Ronodin, which had seemingly rendered him unconscious. Now that they had made it home, Seth, or at least the person whom they believed to be him, had been taken up to his room to rest. Although Bracken and Clover were keeping a close eye on _Seth_ , they promised to alert the rest of the household should he awaken.

However, since she still had yet to hear anything, Kendra didn't know what to expect. It was not too unusual for someone to fall victim to a sleeping enchantment. What did seem unusual was the fact that neither Clover nor Bracken's magic appeared to provide any sort of remedy in regard to countering the enchantment. Would the magic wear off on its own? Or would they need to keep searching for a cure that actually worked?

Looking over across the room, Kendra could see Ingrid, also lying down on her bed. Earlier, the two sisters had been discussing and contemplating the situation regarding both Seth and Ronodin. However, they found that it did not take very long before they had gone over everything that they already knew. Ronodin was still at large, while _Seth_ was under his spell, and no one knew for sure how to go on at this point.

Kendra then found her thought process being brought to a sudden halt upon someone knocking on the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" asked Ingrid.

"Girls," came Dale's voice through the other side of the door. "It's Seth. He's up now!"

"Really?" asked Kendra, who could now feel adrenaline suddenly surging through her veins upon hearing the good news. "Great! Come on, Ingrid!"

"What, you think I'm just gonna sit around here?" asked Ingrid, as she and Kendra both slipped out of their beds.

Kendra and Ingrid both made their way down the stairs from the attic. They then walked down the hall and entered Seth's room, where already the rest of the family was standing around the bed.

Sitting up in the bed was someone who appeared to be Seth. In actuality, that someone was really Victor. However, nobody at Fablehaven, not even Kendra, had any suspicion to the fact that the person who was sitting in Seth's bed was not even Seth himself, but a superbulb. For all that Kendra, or anyone else could tell, or even assume, the superbulb was just plain old Seth. They had no reason to suspect that he had been replaced.

"Hey, Seth," said Ingrid, as she and Kendra walked up to the side of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel... okay, I guess," said Victor, in a voice identical to Seth's, as he stared at both Kendra and Ingrid for a moment.

"Ronodin really put you out for a while," said Warren. "You sure you're all better?"

"I don't feel any different. What happened, anyway?"

"You and Skyfrost rescued the fairies," replied Clover. "Just as Ronodin hit you with that strange energy beam that made you fall asleep. We managed to get everyone out safely, but we couldn't wake you up."

"We tried everything," said Bracken. "Fortunately for us, Ronodin's magic seems to have worn off on you."

"Oh, I see," said Victor, nodding in response. "Well, I guess I'm all better now, huh?"

Bracken waved his hand up and down in front of Victor's face. "I'm not getting any unusual energy readings from you, Seth."

"You're not?" asked Victor, displaying a startled look on his face. "Oh, that's a relief! What should we do now?"

"Well, we've got a bit of a problem on our hands," said Grandpa. "You see, while you were asleep, the fairies that you rescued told us that Ronodin enlisted the aid of a lyrabelle to lure the fairies out of Fablehaven."

"He probably doesn't know what a lyrabelle is," said Grandma. "Do you, Seth?"

"Uhh, no," replied Victor.

"Basically, they're fairies that always sing," said Grandpa. "And this lyrabelle was that same fairy whom Kendra saw through the Oculus. And we have reason to believe that Ronodin enhanced this particular lyrabelle's power to somehow entrance the fairies of this preserve into leaving."

"Really?" asked Victor. "Man, that's pretty bad."

"It certainly is," said Bracken. "If Ronodin and that lyrabelle were able to lure the fairies out of Fablehaven once, there's nothing to stop them from doing it again."

"That's no good!" exclaimed Ingrid. "We need to get back on track and stop Ronodin!"

"It's too risky right now," said Grandpa. "While you did manage to get the fairies back safely to Fablehaven, that lyrabelle could come back here at any time and draw them all out again. And what exactly can we do to stop her?"

"We've got to find Ronodin again," said Warren. "Although, who's to say he'll still be at World's End when we get there? Kendra and Seth haven't been able to track him through the Oculus either way."

"We can make sure to keep an eye on the fairies at all times," said Dale. "One of us, Hugo or Mendigo. We can all take turns watching them."

"What we really need is a more permanent solution," said Grandma. "The only question is... what?"

"You know," said Bracken. "This _is_ a pressing matter for my kind. I think I will consort with Mother on this and see what she decides."

"You've got a point, Bracken," said Clover. "Let's return to the Fairy Kingdom and speak to the Fairy Queen."

"You two are welcome to borrow the Translocator if you wanna save some time," said Warren. "It's in the other room. I'll go get it."

"Thanks, Warren," said Clover, as her husband made his way out of the bedroom.

"Kendra, while this is strictly a fairy concern, would you mind accompanying Clover and myself on this visit?" asked Bracken.

"Not at all," replied Kendra, as the thought of traveling back to the royal fairy castle raced through her mind.

"Kendra gets to go to the Fairy Kingdom _again_?" asked Victor. "No fair!"

"Come on, Seth," said Clover. "There's no need for you to get involved. We're only inviting Kendra because..."

"She's the Fairy Queen's handmaiden. I get it."

Warren then returned to Seth's bedroom, holding in his hand the Translocator.

"Thanks," said Kendra, accepting the artifact from her cousin.

"Kendra's going back with us," said Clover, as Kendra began to twist the Translocator with her hands.

"I gotcha," said Warren, watching as Bracken and Clover both placed a hand upon the Translocator. "I hope you get the help you need."

With Bracken and Clover both touching the Translocator, Kendra pictured the Fairy Queen's castle in her mind. Namely, the Fairy Queen's own throne room. As was the case with the entire castle, the throne room had been built completely out of crystals.

Kendra twisted the Translocator again. Suddenly, she could feel herself being pulled through the very fabric of space. She watched as the world around her faded out of existence, only to instantly be replaced by the very throne room she had been picturing in her mind.

As Bracken and Clover removed their hands from the Translocator, Kendra tucked the device under her arm, then gazed around at the impressive throne room which now surrounded her. Columns of crystal adorned the sides of the room, running up from a floor of diamond-shaped tiles to a rotunda ceiling, made up of countless, colorful, fragmented crystals.

Sitting on a throne at one end the end of the room was none other than the Fairy Queen herself.

"Bracken," said the Fairy Queen, calling from across the room. "Kendra. Clover. Please, come to my side."

Kendra and the two fairy angel walked down the room, approaching the Fairy Queen upon her throne.

"How are you, my dear?" asked the Fairy Queen.

"I'm okay," said Kendra, who couldn't help but marvel in awe at the Fairy Queen's brilliant aura. No matter how many times she saw the mythical monarch, Kendra never quite got used to her breathtaking sheen.

"I've been informed about the goings on with Ronodin and the lyrabelle. And needless to say, I am not happy about any of it."

"Your majesty," said Kendra, "do you know who this lyrabelle is? I mean, she _is_ a fairy. You must have _some_ association with her."

The Fairy Queen shook her head. "I'm afraid not. While I am connected to all other fairies in spirit, I have been unable to determine who this lyrabelle truly is. I can't determine just who in fact she is. It's truly been a mystery to me."

"What about just the lyrabelles?" asked Clover. "Do any of them seem familiar?"

"There aren't too many lyrabelles out there," replied the Fairy Queen. "It's a trait that very few fairies ever develop, and only females at that. But none of the lyrabelles that I have a connection with could possibly be this same fairy that's under the influence of Ronodin."

"So, you don't have any idea as to who this lyrabelle could be?" asked Bracken.

"I'm afraid not."

"What if I described the fairy to you?" asked Kendra. "I have a good idea as to what she looks like."

"I'm afraid that visual aid may not suffice in this instance," said the Fairy Queen. "In my lifetime, I have created countless fairies. I cannot remember what all of them look like, especially those I have not had much association with."

"I understand," said Kendra, pointing her head down towards the glistening floor.

"However," said Bracken. "There is still a matter that perhaps you may be able to help us with, Mother."

"And what would that be?" asked the Fairy Queen.

"As it stands right now, we do not possess the means to track down Ronodin. And until we are successful in doing so, the fairies at Fablehaven are not entirely safe. Although we can station guards to watch them, what we really need is a better measure to protect the fairies at Fablehaven."

"You don't have any suggestions, do you?" asked Clover. "Something that could be done to provide extra protection for the fairies?"

"I do," replied the Fairy Queen.

"Really?" asked Kendra. "What is that?"

"The fairies of Fablehaven are in jeopardy. So long as Ronodin and his lyrabelle can draw them out without so much as setting foot on the property, their lives will continue to be at risk. As such, I believe that the only solution, at least for the time being would have to be... relocation."

"You want to move the fairies?" asked Clover, leaving her mouth gaping open in response.

"I feel that perhaps such a move would be best."

"Those poor fairies," said Kendra. "Isn't there something you could do to keep them within the parameters of the yard? Or couldn't you do something to null the lyrabelle's voice?"

"The only way to stop the lyrabelle is to find her," said the Fairy Queen. "Otherwise, you could drown out her voice with other noises."

"Yeah right," said Bracken. "Fablehaven is a peaceful and relaxed sanctuary. The last thing a place like it needs would be excessive noise."

"Exactly. Which is precisely why I would never condone such a method. As for restraining the fairies, the only way to do that would be to physically confine them to a limited space."

"Which would be no better than the enclosure that Ronodin was keeping them in," said Kendra.

"We can't stop the fairies from flying off otherwise," said Bracken. "Not without rewriting the whole treaty from scratch."

"Where would the fairies go?" asked Clover.

"I'd like for you to bring them here, to the Fairy Kingdom," replied the Fairy Queen.

"What?" asked Kendra.

"It is here where they'll be safe. Please. I hate put forth such a request. But it is not safe for the fairies at Fablehaven right now."

"I understand," said Bracken. "We'll head back to Fablehaven and arrange to have the fairies brought here as soon as possible."

"Thank you. I'm so sorry to have to do this."

Kendra sighed, then raised the Translocator up in front of herself. "Well. Let's get going then."

"Don't feel so bad, Kendra," said the Fairy Queen, as Kendra proceeded to wind up the Translocator. "I have faith in you and your allies. You're more than capable. You'll locate Ronodin and put an end to his recklessness. I know you will."

"Thanks," said Kendra in a doubtful tone, as she twisted the Translocator again now that Bracken and Clover were touching it. In a flash, Kendra and the two fairy angels were now back at Fablehaven, standing in the living room.

"Well, I guess we'd better tell Stan and Ruth about my mother's little _decision_ ," said Bracken, with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

The trio made their way back upstairs, where the family soon gathered in Grandpa and Grandma's room. They then went on to tell them about how the Fairy Queen wanted to move the fairies that were currently at Fablehaven into the Fairy Kingdom.

"I can't say I'm happy about the situation," said Grandpa. "But, I am inclined to agree with the Fairy Queen on this. We can't risk letting having the fairies getting abducted again."

"This is awful," said Mrs. Sorenson. "The fairies here are so sweet. They don't deserve this sort of treatment."

"It's not their fault," said Grandma. "But at the same time, we need to be concerned about their welfare."

Everyone who was inside the house then made their way out and into the garden that was on the front lawn. Bracken then walked down a flagstone path leading into the garden, stopping in a the circular intersection that was in the middle.

"Attention all fairies," said Bracken, who had now raised his voice. "I come bearing some rather... unfortunate news."

"What's he talking about?" asked Goldenrod, as she and several other fairies all fluttered over towards where Bracken was standing. "We were just rescued!"

"As it stands right now, Fablehaven is no longer a safe place for you to reside. What that lyrabelle did before, she can do again."

As Bracken spoke, more fairies flew across the garden towards him. The dragons, along with several reindeer, made appearances as well.

"On behalf of my mother, the Fairy Queen, all fairies that are on this preserve must return to the Fairy Kingdom at once."

The fairies all started chitchatting among one another.

"But... we thought we were safe now!" exclaimed Passion, as the other fairies all nodded in unison with her.

"I'm very sorry," said Bracken. "But the Fairy Queen has ordered for all of you to return to the Fairy Kingdom. Staying at Fablehaven is no longer safe for any of you."

"But we want to stay here!" cried Larissa, as she flew over onto the top of Kendra's head and nestled herself in her hair.

Within seconds, more and more fairies had joined Larissa, until almost all of Kendra's entire body was covered with tiny, glowing, humanoid creatures. Never before had Kendra had so many fairies clinging to her. She felt like a beekeeper, but imagined that she probably better resembled a Christmas tree.

"Please," said Clover. "Listen to Bracken."

Kendra could feel all of the fairies that were clinging to her. In actuality, they were hugging her. They loved Kendra. The last thing that they wanted was to have to leave her and Fablehaven.

"Don't make me have to do this," said Bracken, who looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Bracken, no!" snapped Ingrid.

"Fairies," said Bracken. "I order you all to return to the Fairy Kingdom. _Now_."

With that said, all of the fairies released their hold on Kendra and began flying off in the direction of the naiads' pond.

"The fairies..." muttered Dale, as he raised his hand up towards the court of passing fairies, only for them to swerve around it.

"No..." said Warren, who sounded as though he could not speak another word.

"I'm sorry," said Bracken. "But this has to be done."

"Raxtus and I will visit you!" shouted Geminus, as the fairies continued to fly further away.

"At least _you_ can visit them," said Firesquall, as he and Skyfrost both lowered their heads.

"Come on," said Mrs. Sorenson. "We shouldn't be sad. What's happening to the fairies... It's for the best."

"I know," said Victor. "But, it's stupid that it has to happen at all."

"I think we should just return to what we were doing," said Grandma. "Try not to think about it."

As the rest of the crowd began to either walk or fly away, Ingrid grabbed Kendra by her arm.

"What?" asked Kendra, as she turned to face Ingrid, not entirely in the mood to talk.

"Kendra, does something seem a little unusual about Seth?"

Kendra winced. "What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it. But something doesn't feel quite right."

"Seth's been through a lot today," said Kendra. "He was hit by that strange beam earlier. And now he has to cope with the departure of the fairies. I know he can be... _peculiar_ , for lack of a better term. But, this is probably just his way of coping with everything."

"No, it's not that," said Ingrid. "Something about Seth is just rubbing me the wrong way. I can't explain it. But I can feel it in my bones."

"I don't know how that could be," said Kendra. "It can't be a magical thing, no offense. And with all due respect, the rest of us have known Seth far longer than you have. It's probably just all this tension."

Ingrid sighed. "Maybe you're right. This whole ordeal's probably just getting to me."


	29. Lyrabelle

**Chapter 29: Lyrabelle**

Sitting within the confinement of the glass chamber that had been constructed by Ronodin, Seth found himself with little choice other than to study his surroundings. The basement that he was being housed in was, for the most part, essentially barren and empty.

If only he could find a way out of the chamber. In the brief amount of time that had passed since Ronodin left him alone in the basement, Seth examined every square inch of the glass that surrounded him rigorously. He had been hoping to find some sort of door or opening within the glass that he could potentially get out through. However, the glass appeared to be completely seamless. Unsure as to how he even got inside of the orb in the first place, Seth concluded that it had to have involved magic to some extent.

Seth reached into his pockets, expecting to discover his own belongings, namely his phone. But they were completely empty. Looking down at his pants, Seth saw that while they did fit him, they were not a pair that he even owned. He was wearing clothes that were intended for Victor, while the superbulb was likely wearing his own threads. And it was in the pocket of his proper pants where Seth had kept his phone.

Not that having his phone at this point would've mattered. He was currently in the basement of an underground preserve somewhere in Antarctica. Phone or no phone, Seth wouldn't be able to contact anyone anyway.

Seth had already tried to unleash his angelic powers, hoping that they would enable him to escape from the chamber. But despite his best efforts, Seth didn't even feel as though he was anywhere near to being close enough to activate them. He was currently alone. And in the past, he always had support whenever he had become an angel.

But this time, Seth was all alone. And the worst part of it was, the rest of his friends and family probably didn't even have a clue as to what was going on. Instead, they were probably under the impression that Victor was supposed to be him.

Thinking back to the time when Kendra's stingbulb had impersonated her, she had fooled nearly everyone. It was only the stingbulb's odd behavior that had tipped off Seth and Warren into realizing something was amiss. Was Victor having the same level of success? Part of Seth wanted to know. The other didn't even want to begin thinking about it.

After a fair amount of time had passed, Seth could feel his solitude come to a grinding halt as he heard the door to the basement being opened. Seth assumed that it was Ronodin, and that he probably wanted something.

To Seth's surprise, it was not Ronodin, but another figure who was walking down the basement stairs. A female, the figure was slender, possessing purple hair and wings shaped like treble clefs. It was the lyrabelle!

Seth watched as the lyrabelle walked towards the chamber that he was trapped inside of, then stopped in front of it, gazing in at Seth. As though it had been his own instinct, Seth stared back at her. Now that Seth could see her up close for the first time, he could see just how gorgeous she actually was. But Seth tried to disregard her beauty; she was on Ronodin's side!

"What do _you_ want?" quipped Seth, staring back at the lyrabelle.

" _I think we need to talk,_ " sang the lyrabelle. Her voice had a calming, almost soothing tone to it.

Seth paused for a moment. Her voice. The lyrabelle just spoke to him. But she didn't just speak; she sang. It was only one sentence, but she sang it. For seemingly no reason.

"About _what_?"

" _The situation at hand_ ," hummed the lyrabelle.

"May I ask why you're singing?"

" _I am a lyrabelle. Singing is how we talk_."

"You sing to talk?"

" _I do_ ,"

"What kind of song is this? It doesn't make any sense. Heck, it doesn't even _rhyme_."

" _It's not a proper song. It's just the way I talk."_

"Weird," said Seth, who came to the conclusion that the lyrabelle wasn't going to change her behavior anytime soon. "So... you said that you came here to talk. And as you can tell from my surroundings, I can't exactly _go_ anywhere. So I'll start. What's your name?"

" _My name is Melody_ ," sang the lyrabelle.

"That's pretty," said Seth. "Pretty _obvious_ , anyway. So tell me. Are you the one who used her voice to lure all of the fairies out of Fablehaven?"

" _I am_. _And I'm sorry._ "

"You're... sorry? Yeah, you'd better be sorry! You and Ronodin! You're going to be **very** **sorry** when my friends get their hands on you two. You're gonna wish..."

" _Please try to understand!_ " sang Melody. " _I do not agree with Ronodin. I feel that he is wrong!_ "

"So, you're _not_ on Ronodin's side?"

" _I was. But not anymore_."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Prove it."

Melody snapped her fingers. Suddenly a large, glowing, rectangular-shaped outline appeared on the side of the chamber. A moment later, outline faded away, as did the glass that had been within it.

"You're _freeing_ me?" asked Seth, as he stuck his hand through the newly-formed opening.

" _Indeed_ ," replied Melody.

As the opening was large enough for Seth to pass through, Seth stepped through it, and was now standing outside the chamber, alongside Melody.

"Whoa," said Seth. "It isn't often someone gets rescued by their enemy."

" _I am not your enemy. Not anymore_."

"I feel like I can trust you. But... how can I sure sure? How do I know that this isn't a trick?"

" _Why would this be a trick? Would you rather stay here and wait for Ronodin?_ "

"I'm sorry," said Seth, "it's just that... well... I don't know you. Except that _you're_ the one responsible for the missing fairies."

" _I regret what I have done. It's just that I was being loyal to Ronodin. But I feel he has gone too far."_

"At least there's _some_ hope for you. Come on, as long as you're here to rescue me, let's get out of this place."

Seth and Melody walked over towards the stairs at the end of the basement, then proceeded to walk up them.

"Say Ronodin catches us?" asked Seth. "What then?"

" _He won't catch us,_ " replied Melody. " _He put me in charge of the place in his absence._ "

"Why can't you just talk normally?" asked Seth, as he placed his hand on the knob of the door that stood at the top of the stairs.

" _This_ _ **is**_ _normal for me. Please try to understand. Why are you so upset? My voice is so lovely._ "

"Look, _I_ don't have a problem with your voice," replied Seth, as he turned around to face Melody. "But singing like that... people will think you're weird."

" _Why would they think it's weird?_ "

"Because people are like that. If there's something unusual about you, people are going to make a fuss about it."

" _What people are you referring to?_ " asked Melody.

"I don't know. Look, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it."

Seth then twisted the knob and pushed the door open. He found that he and Melody were now at the end of a small hallway on the ground floor of the house.

" _Follow me_ ," hummed Melody.

"Wait," said Seth. "Is there a phone in this place?"

" _A phone?_ "

"Yeah. Does Ronodin have a telephone? Like a landline or a satellite phone or something?"

" _What is a phone?_ "

Seth suddenly experienced a sinking feeling in his stomach. It then occurred to him that Melody might not actually know what a phone was.

"It's something that'll help us. Let's just check his study for a moment to see if one's even there."

" _Okay. It's this way."_

Melody led Seth down the hall and opened a door. It was Ronodin's study for sure. Seth recognized it from his previous visit, but could not recall whether or not if it had contained a phone.

Seth studied the room from the doorway. There did not appear to be a phone on the desk, or anywhere else that was in plain sight. As he advanced into the study, Seth examined the perimeter of the room, just to see if he could spot a phone cord running along the wall.

Unable to find anything of interest, Seth began to skim through each drawer that was in Ronodin's desk, just in case a portable phone could be hiding in one of them. There wasn't.

"I give up," said Seth. "You don't know what a phone is, Melody? It's a device that people use to talk to other people."

" _I don't_ ," replied Melody, shaking her head ." _Sorry_."

"Forget it," said Seth. "I just want to get as far away from here as possible as _fast_ as possible."

Melody led Seth out of the office and continued down the hallway, which brought them into the front hall.

" _Out this door_ ," sang Melody.

"It's kind of a relief that at least you don't speak in rhyme," said Seth. "Then you'd be like Hespera."

" _Hesper-who_?"

"I'll tell you later. Let's just get out of here."

" _Hold on_ ," chimed Melody, just as Seth placed his hand upon the doorknob.

"What?"

" _Ronodin may be gone. But he has demons out there controlling the grounds now_."

"Demons?!" exclaimed Seth, removing his hand from the door. "Why didn't you say something earlier? I'm not equipped to handle any demons! Why would you try to rescue me if it's not safe to even leave the house?"

" _I never said that I wasn't prepared for the demons_."

"So what are you going to do? Blast them all with your fairy magic? You'll exhaust yourself!"

" _I have a way of dealing with them. Keep on your guard._ "

Melody then opened the door. Seth glanced out into the yard that lay beyond. The coast seemed to be clear. There wasn't a demon in sight. Melody walked out through the door, while Seth followed.

After walking only a few feet away from the front porch, Seth could hear footsteps approaching from off to the side. Turning his head, Seth saw a creature charging towards him and Melody in the distance. Sporting a build similar to a centaur, the dark grey hyena-like creature was running on four legs _and_ possessed four arms.

As the creature approached Seth and Melody, Seth noticed more monsters approaching from other directions, including a few airborne ones. Seth couldn't possibly fight all of the monsters like this; even with all the training and experience he had under his belt.

"Melody!" cried Seth, as he turned back towards the house. "What are you doing?"

Choosing not to respond to Seth, Melody stood and directly faced the closest of the incoming monsters. Without any warning, an eerily soothing soprano voice began to echo from Melody's mouth. There were no lyrics, just a beautiful, harmonic voice.

Suddenly, all of the monsters stopped still in their tracks, as Melody continued her humming. The lyrabelle seemed to be completely unfazed by the halted movement of the monsters.

As the humming continued, the monsters all turned around and began to run, sprint, gallop or fly off in an opposing direction. Melody allowed her singing to continue until all of the monsters were out of sight.

Melody then closed her mouth, bringing her soothing song to a close, then turned to face Seth.

"Melody," said Seth. "That was... _incredible_! What'd you do?"

" _Regrettably, what I have done is the same technique I used to draw all of the fairies away from Fablehaven,_ " replied the lyrabelle. " _Come on, let's get out of here_."

Melody then began to scurry down the path at the edge of the yard that led through the forest, prompting Seth to chase after her.

"Whoa," said Seth, as he entered the forest and caught up with Melody. "You mean, you can make your voice _hypnotic_?"

" _In a way, yes. After enhancing my power, Ronodin trained me to use my voice to entrance fairies."_

"I get it. But why does it work on demons, too?"

" _Because I taught myself how. But not with Ronodin's approval. I feared the demons that he keeps here. So I honed my skills and found a way to seduce them._ "

"So you can order around fairies and demons," said Seth. "Anything else?"

" _I'm afraid not. I'm not very proud of power that I shouldn't otherwise have. I'm only grateful for the prominence it gives me over demons._ "

Seth and Melody continued down the path through the trees for several more minutes. However, the long run, in addition to fatigue, began to catch up with Seth, making him feel exhausted.

"Melody," said Seth, "there wouldn't be a faster way of getting out of this place, would there?"

" _Not without riding on Maelstrom_ ," replied Melody.

Seth pondered to himself for a moment, then turned to face Melody.

"Look, you're stronger than a normal fairy. That I get. So, is there any way that you could use your magic to get us out of here faster?"

" _I'm afraid to try_ ," replied Melody. " _Although I can sing, my other magic is rather amatuerish. Also, it's a long way between here and the rest of the world. I wouldn't want to exhaust my power. I'd rather save it for later._ "

"I got it. We'll play it by ear. See what happens."

Seth and Melody made their way down the remainder of the path that led through the forest, before finally stopping in the clearing that stood at the entrance to the preserve. Before them stood the vast tunnel that connected World's End to the land above the surface of the Earth.

Seth stared down the massive tunnel. From his current position, it appeared to go on so long that he was unable to see the other end.

"This is gonna take forever on foot," said Seth. "Are you sure there isn't a better way? You can't use your power to help us?"

" _My speciality is singing. And singing will not help_."

"If only I could become an angel, I could get out of this mess!" stated Seth. "And if Ronodin couldn't make me an angel, I doubt you could either."

" _I'd rather not try_."

"Angel or not, I'd just settle for being able to fly right now. Wait... **you** can fly! Why don't you just fly us out of here?"

" _You mean, carry you and fly_?"

"Yeah! It'd beat walking any day!"

" _I'd rather not. I'm not that strong. It'd be hard to carry you_."

"Use your magic. Make me smaller."

" _I don't know how_."

"Turn me into something that can fly. Or just make me levitate!"

" _I cannot alter your form. And my levitation power wouldn't last very long. I'll just try carrying you. Seems better than nothing_."

"All right," said Seth. "Let's give it a try."

" _I've never done this before_ ," said Melody, as she stepped behind Seth.

Seth raised his arms. Melody then wrapped her own arms around Seth's body and hugged him from the rear. Seth then lowered his arms over Melody's just as the lyrabelle began flapping her wings, causing the two of them to rise into the air together.

" _Okay_ ," hummed Melody, as she took a deep breath. " _Let's go!_ "

Melody then flew into the tunnel, bringing Seth along with her. Although it seemed that they were moving at a speed that was faster than walking, Seth felt as though he was capable of flying faster when he was an angel. While he couldn't compare himself to someone like like Raxtus, or especially Skyfrost, Seth felt that Melody wasn't flying all that fast; that she probably could fly faster if she didn't have to carry him. He couldn't help but feel guilty for undoubtedly slowing her down.

After a few minutes of flying, Seth could eventually see the exit of the tunnel as it drew nearer. Before long, Melody soared out of the tunnel, bringing both Seth and herself back into the Antarctic tundra. They were back. Back outside. Back among the light of day.

"All right!" said Seth. "We made it!"

" _Now... what?_ " asked Melody, panting heavily.

"Whoa, you sound tired! You should take a rest."

" _Thank... you_ ," sung Melody in weary voice as she flew down into the snow. The moment that the soles of his boots hit the ground, Seth felt as Melody released her grasp on him.

"Are you okay?" asked Seth, as her turned to face Melody, who appeared to be out of breath.

" _I think... I'll be... okay_."

"Man, I'm sorry about that. I just wanted to get out of that preserve!"

" _I understand. But now where do we go?_ "

"I don't know," said Seth, as he stared off into the distance. "There's nothing but snow for miles and miles. I dare say we may have been better off staying at World's End. I think we just went from the frying pan and into the fire. Or freezer, rather. It's freezing out here! And neither of us are dressed for the weather!"

" _Now that, I can help with,_ " said Melody. Seth watched as she waved her hands around, creating two purple auras around them. She then shot a beam of energy at herself with one hand, then at Seth with the other.

In a flash of purple light, a thick, purple, winter coat and matching gloves materialized upon Seth's body, while a matching set appeared on Melody.

"Wow," said Seth. "Not bad! Thanks!"

" _You're welcome._ "

"I'm grateful that you're helping me like this. Can I ask why? Why you're defecting against Ronodin all of a sudden? After all that you've done."

" _Well... I take it you know about Victor."_

"What _about_ Victor?" asked Seth, wondering what Melody was getting at.

" _He's a superbulb. As such, he is loyal to Ronodin. And Ronodin sees him as nothing more than a pawn._ "

"What's your point?"

" _A superbulb is a living, thinking creature. But Victor was not the first. There was another before him. A previous experiment._ "

"What do you mean?" asked Seth. "Who was this other superbulb?"

Melody then made a face that looked as though she was on the verge of breaking out in tears.

" _That other superbulb... was me._ "


	30. Double Trouble

**Chapter 30: Double Trouble**

Standing by herself in the center of the garden at the front of the house, Kendra gazed around at the myriad of various plants that surrounded her. Alas, the garden was as beautiful and healthy as it ever was. However, something undoubtedly felt off to Kendra.

Indeed, the garden was no longer the place that it usually was. Due to the recent events that had transpired with Ronodin, the Fairy Queen had decreed that all the fairies that resided at Fablehaven needed to return to the Fairy Kingdom at once.

With the fairies that normally resided in the garden no longer around, the garden could only now fill Kendra with a feeling of emptiness. Sure, the place would still thrive, regardless of the presence of any fairies. But to Kendra, seeing the garden now, after knowing it as the home of the fairies for so long, she couldn't help but look at the place and get the feeling that something, the absence of the fairies notwithstanding, was clearly _wrong_.

"Hey, Kendra," said Bracken, whose voice Kendra could hear from behind her.

"Hey," said Kendra solemnly, not even in the mood to so much as turn around and face the unicorn.

"It's pretty rough, I know," said Bracken, as he walked up to Kendra's side and stood next to her. "I miss the fairies already."

"Ronodin... Look what's he's driven us to, Bracken! And this could only be the beginning! We need to to stop him! Before he does something else drastic. If not to us, or anyone on this preserve, then to who knows?"

"I agree with you all the way on this. But already Ronodin has proven himself to be very powerful. Moreso than myself or the other fairy angels. So our magic isn't likely to have much effect on him, even if we were to be deceptive. And seeing as how he _is_ a unicorn, I could never condone inflicting physical harm on him. Not deliberately"

"There's one thing I know we haven't tried," said Kendra.

"What's that?"

"Having me become fairyprime. As powerful as Ronodin is, my fairyprime form may rival, or even exceed him."

"Kendra," said Bracken, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I get where you're coming from on this. And in a way, I support your view. But, are you sure? We don't know the full extent of Ronodin's power. It could be dangerous. Dark or not, Ronodin is a unicorn, not a demon. He may resist your power, in a manner similar to how Oblivion did."

"I need to try," said Kendra. "If my power alone isn't enough to stop Ronodin, then perhaps I can do it with Seth's help. If the two of us were able to destroy the Demon God, I think we can handle a unicorn. Dark or not."

"We should speak to the others, then," said Bracken, as he and Kendra then turned around and made their way back into the house.

Within a few minutes, the entire household had gathered around outside on the back patio, along with the dragons. The humans and fairies were all dressed up in their warm winter clothes.

"You really think you should be doing this?" asked Grandpa.

"Going through with this," said Ingrid, "it just feels so strange."

"Kendra, I know it's hard to accept the loss of the fairies..." began Dale.

"This isn't just about the fairies," said Kendra. "Ronodin needs to be dealt with. And right now it feels like the only thing capable of stopping him would be myself. Or rather, my fairyprime form."

"I dunno, Kendra," said Victor. "It sounds like you're just _depending_ on this whole thing to work. We don't entirely know the true extent of Ronodin's power."

"Seth, you of all people shouldn't be worried about this. You're angelkind! With your support I feel like we can do anything!"

"I... just don't want anybody getting hurt," said Victor, staring down at the deck planks beneath his feet.

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Warren.

"Seth, I don't get what you're so afraid of," said Clover. "Kendra's fairyprime form is incredibly powerful! And with your angelkind powers to back her up, I don't see how Ronodin could stand a chance against you."

"We all want to get this whole thing with Ronodin over with," said Raxtus. "What's the worst he could do to us if Kendra's fariyprime?"

"Show of hands," said Grandpa. "All in favor of letting Kendra pursue Ronodin in her fairyprime form, raise your hand."

Everyone then proceeded to hold up either a hand or claw, with the exception of Victor.

"Sorry, Seth," said Skyfrost. "But Kendra's theory sounds just too good to pass up."

Victor sighed. "I guess so."

"Well, let's get everybody's things together," said Mrs. Sorenson.

"Good idea," said Warren. "The sooner we're done with that, the sooner we can go after Ronodin again."

"And this time," said Ingrid, "we'll be ready for him!"

"Let's do this, then," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag and held it out in front of himself.

"So, where exactly would we be going?" asked Victor.

"World's End would be as good a place to start as any," said Clover. "Even if we don't find Ronodin there right away, he's bound to return at some point or other."

"Are you sure about that? We were just there! And we almost got destroyed by Ronodin and Maelstrom!"

"We know what we're doing now, Seth," said Kendra. "Honestly, I don't know what's got you so worked up."

Victor sighed. "Sorry. I guess I'm just anxious after that whole ordeal."

"I understand," said Bracken. "And I don't want to put any undue pressure on you. Believe me, none of us do. But at the same time, your angelic powers may be the key to helping Kendra overcome Ronodin, should worst come to worst."

Victor winced. "I get it," he said, speaking in a begrudging voice.

"Good," said Clover, as she set her hand onto the Translocator. "I know this feels awkward, but at the same time, we need all the positive energy we can get, so try to keep your chin up."

"If we're all set," said Warren, once everyone had made contact with the Translocator, "let's roll!"

Warren proceeded to twist the Translocator. In a flash of light, Kendra found herself being pulled through space, as the world around her melted into the snowscape of Antarctica.

Taking a moment to absorb the coldness that had suddenly overwhelmed her entire body, Kendra glanced around at her surroundings. In one direction, she spotted the entrance to the cavernous tunnel that led down into World's End.

"I would've preferred to take us into the preserve proper, but I don't think that would've been possible," said Warren.

"Just as well," said Kendra. "There's always the possibility we could've gotten ambushed somehow."

"You know, there's still the chance we'll get ambushed anyway, you know," said Victor.

"It's a chance we're going to have to take," said Raxtus. "Kinda makes me wish you could all become invisible as easily as I can."

"It's not so bad if we get spotted, though," said Bracken. "If Ronodin spots us, we don't have to find him ourselves. We just can't let him get the drop on us."

Kendra then proceeded to climb up onto Raxtus' back, while Bracken seated himself behind her and placed his hands upon her shoulders. She waited as Ingrid got up onto Geminus, while Warren and Clover climbed up onto Firesquall.

Victor, however, just stood in one spot, looking up at Skyfrost.

"Come on, Seth," said Skyfrost. "There's no point in stalling."

"Are you okay, Seth?" asked Firesquall.

"I'm fine," said Victor, as he attempted to climbed up onto Skyfrost's back. Even though the wyvern had knelt down, Victor stumbled to climb up onto his back.

"Someone's out of it," said Skyfrost. "You normally get up onto me so smoothly."

"I'm **fine** ," said Victor. "I just feel a little.. _weary_."

"Come on," said Bracken. "Are we going to sit here and argue over nothing, or are we going to find Ronodin?"

The dragons proceeded to raise their wings upwards. They then rose into the air, soaring directly towards the cave that led to World's End.

* * *

Meanwhile, no further than a mile away from the current position of Kendra and the others, were Seth and Melody.

Ever since fleeing from World's End, the two of them had been traipsing through the snow for a considerable length of time. However, by now, Seth could feel his legs and feet starting to get sore due to the heaviness of all the snow he had trudged through.

" _Seth, this plan seems futile_ ," sang Melody.

"I know," groaned Seth, wincing his face in order to endure not only the truth, but the harshness of the cool wind that was blowing towards him. "I still can't get over the fact that _you're_ a superbulb."

" _I don't like talking about it. Especially not now, since we could die out here._ "

"Better we die out here than as slaves belonging to Ronodin. You can sustain us for a while with your magic, can't you?"

" _I'm not... sure,"_ chimed Melody, as she shook her head. " _I'm starting to question this motive. I barely know you, yet I have so many questions."_

"Can they wait, Little Miss Superbulb?" huffed Seth, as he wiped his brow.

" _There is one thing I must know. Who are those wyverns? How did you befriend them? And where are they from?_ "

"The wyverns? They're from this place in the sky called Cloud Canyon. They're cool and all. But what's really gonna blow your mind are the dragons. You see, they have fairy-like qualities..."

" _Seth, did you say..._ " began Melody, as an immense shadow suddenly cast itself over her and Seth.

The two of them gazed up and saw Maelstrom looming roughly thirty feet in the air above them, with Ronodin peering down over the front of her massive snout.

"Ronodin..." gasped Seth who felt as his body experienced a chill far harsher than even the worst winds that the Earth could blast him with.

"I'm sorry," said Ronodin. "But word of advice. If you're going to play hide and seek like this, don't do it in a wide, open space like right here."

Still phased by the mere presence of Ronodin and Maelstrom, Seth could only watch as Ronodin levitated himself down from atop the wyvern's head and hovered in the air before him and Melody.

"What is the meaning of this, Melody?" blared Ronodin, glaring at the lyrabelle with eyes of intent.

" _No..._ " uttered Melody, unable to produce any more words.

"I gave you one simple task. Never would I have expected such **treason** to manifest from within you. Not under these stipulations."

"You think this is all _my_ fault?" exclaimed Seth. "You're the one who pushed Melody too far! Maybe I'm the straw that broke the camel's back, but Melody said..."

"SILENCE!" roared Ronodin, as he held out his hands and proceeded to shoot both Seth and Melody with blasts of blue light.

Before Seth could even so much as react, he found that his body was now surrounded by a blue energy bubble. Looking through his bubble, Seth could see that Melody appeared to be trapped in one as well, even though the energy fields diluted his vision like thick, blue lenses.

" _What are you doing here_?" asked Melody.

"I've been looking for the other members of Seth's party," replied Ronodin, as Seth found himself unable to budge the energy field that surrounded him. "I've been trying to figure out where they've gone. It can't be too far, can it? You must know, don't you, Seth?"

Unable to think of a response, Seth just snarled at Ronodin.

"I'll extract that information from you soon enough. But let's head back to World's End first. This area is too cold for my liking."

Ronodin rose back up towards Maelstrom, allowing Seth and Melody to float up with him as he landed them along with himself atop the wyvern's head.

"How did you find us?" asked Seth, once the soles of his boots were resting upon Maelstrom's head.

"Intuition," replied Ronodin. "Also, you left footprints. If you really were smart, you would have stayed put, instead of trying to escape."

"Melody, do something!" exclaimed Seth, while squinting in an attempt to bring forth his angelic abilities.

"Enough!" huffed Ronodin before Melody could utter a response, as Malestrom began to soar forward. "You two are in a _lot_ of trouble. Especially **you** , Melody!"

Not knowing what he could do at this point, Seth opted to remain at ease. He felt as though he did not have the strength required to escape from the energy field, let alone deal with Ronodin and Maelstrom. Besides, if Melody, a fairy who actually had power at her disposal was unable to free herself, what chance did Seth have?

Seth could only watch in fear as Maelstrom flew through the air. After no more than a minute had passed, the wyvern swooped downward and flew into the tunnel that led into World's End.

Meanwhile, further inside World's End proper, Kendra and the rest of her allies were hovering around near the house.

"I can't find any sign of Ronodin anywhere," said Firesquall, as he flew up towards Raxtus.

"It's like the place is dead," noted Skyfrost.

"Yeah..." said Victor. "If Ronodin's not here, he could be anywhere. You think maybe we ought to look elsewhere?"

"I hate to say it," said Bracken, "but I'm inclined to agree with you, Seth."

"If Ronodin's not here, where is he then?" asked Ingrid.

"We don't know," replied Warren. "And if he's not here, we have no way of telling as to where he actually is."

"Maybe we should just take a break," said Kendra. "We've been flying around this place over and over, and we've come up with nothing."

"Agreed. Let's get out of here, so that we can use the Translocator."

As the dragons flew back towards the tunnel, they could hear a loud growl echoing from its direction.. Despite the volume, Kendra could recall hearing similar cries to it in the past.

"What was that?" asked Ingrid.

Everyone in the group stared intently at the large, incoming figure that was approaching from the tunnel.

Without any warning, the figure, who could now be identified Maelstrom, came booming out of the tunnel. She folded up her wings and charged ahead in one direction, heading towards an area close to the house.

"No!" gasped Ingrid.

Kendra stared at Maelstrom in awe as the rust-colored monstrosity stopped before them in midair. As startled as she had been to have been spotted by Ronodin and Maelstrom, what really threw her off was the fact that Seth was standing atop the wyern's head. Looking to her side, Kendra saw that "Seth" was also riding upon Skyfrost, unaware that he was really an imposter.

Seth stared intently at Victor. The superbulb was real. And he seemingly had everybody fooled.

"What do all of you think you're doing?" muttered Ronodin.

"Seth," said Ingrid, staring at the real deal who was with Ronodin, then looking over at Victor. "What's going on here?"

"Why are there two Seths?" asked Geminus. "Who is that boy?"

"That guy is an imposter!" exclaimed Seth, pointing towards Victor. "I'm the real Seth."

"We don't have time for that cliché right now, Seth!" quipped Warren. "If you actually are Seth, even..."

"I don't have time for this!" huffed Ronodin. "Both of you are coming with me!"

Ronodin then held out his hand and unleashed a beam of blue energy at Victor. Upon being hit, the superbulb seemingly disappeared, only to reappear next to Seth, inside his containment field. The shock of seeing his duplicate suddenly appear in front of his face was actually quite jarring; even though Victor was wearing different clothes, it was like looking into a three-dimensional mirror.

"We have to do something!" gasped Kendra.

"Move any closer and your brother _will_ get hurt," said Ronodin, persuading the Knights of the Dawn to remain perfectly still. Now, as for Seth..."

" _No!_ " hummed Melody. " _I won't let you do this!_ "

"Oh, yes you will!" said Ronodin. "I wasn't hoping it wouldn't come to this, but in a way, you've brought this upon yourself!"

" _I've been holding back..._ "

Purple energy began surging out of Melody's hands, which seemingly shattered the bubble she was contained in.

"Stop that!" huffed Ronodin. "I'm the one who made you who you are! Without me you would be nothing! Without me... you would not even exist. That said, I want for you to hold out your hands, palms facing up.

" _I understand_ ," sang Melody, as she held out her hands and closed her eyes.

Ronodin then grasped onto Melody's extended hands. Everyone watched as purple energy flowed down Melody's arms and into Ronodin's body.

"No!" cried Clover. "You can't!"

"Shut up!" hissed Ronodin. The moment he let go of Melody, the lyrabelle suddenly shrunk down to the size of a normal fairy.

"What did you do?" asked Seth.

"I've taken back Melody's power. What gave her strength. I didn't want it to come to this. But either way, I'm going to carry out my plan. And I'm doing it **now**."

Ronodin snapped her fingers, causing both Seth and Victor, along with the energy field they were being held within, to disappear.

"What have you done with Seth?" asked Ingrid. "Whichever one of those two he is."

"It's not what I've _done_ with Seth," said Ronodin, "it's what I'm going to do with him that matters."

Ronodin snapped his fingers again, causing his staff to appear in his hand. He proceeded to wave it around, causing dozens of monstrous, airborne figures to appear all around the group.

"I don't have time to play with our _guests_ ," said Ronodin. "Maelstrom, I want for you to guard the house. The rest of our friends here will keep these _intruders_ busy for now."

Ronodin then snapped his fingers and disappeared himself.

At that precise moment, Maelstrom flew down towards the house. Meanwhile, all of the demons were now surrounding the Knights and their dragons. The demons all let out bellowing roars, which sounded so intense that Kendra felt as though her own skin would come flying off her body.

"Now what?" asked Ingrid.

"We..." began Bracken, "are in a _lot_ of trouble."


	31. Upheaval

**Chapter 31: Upheaval**

Kendra continued to stare at all of the demons that were surrounding the group. Too nervous to properly concentrate, she figured there had to have been at least two dozen of them, all of which sported different physical appearances, ranging from fur, scales and feathers, to elongated teeth and claws.

"Look out!" exclaimed Skyfrost, prompting Raxtus, Geminus and Firesquall to all dart away from the demons that had attempted to assault them in midair.

"There's too many of them!" gasped Bracken, looking back at the several demons that were flying after Raxtus, and consequently Kendra and himself.

"We can't just give up like this!" exclaimed Clover. "We have to fight back!"

At that moment, Geminus made a sharp u-turn, then opened her mouth and exerted a wave of fiery light energy at the demons that had been pursuing her. Her attack managed to hit one of the demons, but the others all veered out of the way and continued flying closer towards her. With only precious seconds left before the inevitable collision, Geminus ceased her breath attack and flew out of the way of the incoming demons.

"I'm ready for this," said Kendra, as she unsheathed Vasilis from the scabbard on her back.

"We mustn't keep wasting time," said Bracken, placing a hand on Kendra's shoulder. "The real threat here is Ronodin."

"Exactly," said Clover, just as Firesquall spat a fireball back towards an incoming monster. "Ronodin made it quite obvious that these demons are here simply to distract us."

"But in order to get to Ronodin, we need to get into the house," said Ingrid. "And Maelstrom is guarding the place!"

Kendra glanced down towards the house. Maelstrom was standing in the yard next to it, her humongous body towering over the two-story residence.

"We can't take on an adult like her," said Firesquall. "And those demons aren't making things any easier!"

"I can sneak past her," said Raxtus.

"But the rest of us can't," said Warren. "Even if we charge into the house at a high speed, what's to stop Maelstrom from tearing the place apart in an attempt to get at us? If she gets us, we'll be blown to Kingdom Come!"

"But we need to get in there right now!" exclaimed Kendra, as she fired a beam of white light from Vasilis, but failed to hit a demon with it.

"I can't even _land_ safely with these demons chasing us," said Raxtus.

"But... Seth," said Kendra.

"Seth needs our help," said Ingrid. "And we need his."

* * *

While the rest of his group was outside, flying around World's End, Seth found that he had been transported elsewhere.

No longer standing atop Maelstrom's head, Seth found that he was down in the basement of World's End, once again contained within the glass orb that Ronodin had confined him to only a short while ago.

However, unlike the previous time, something was different. Seth was not by himself. Also inside the orb, standing directly in front of him, was Victor. The superbulb's uncanny resemblance to him, coupled with his sudden appearance, almost caused Seth to think that he had been looking into a mirror.

"This is... really weird," said Victor, stopping to catch his breath.

"I'll say..." grumbled Seth, who couldn't decide whether he should take his anger out on Victor, or sympathize with him. As much trouble as Victor may have caused for him, Seth knew that as a superbulb, Victor was inclined to follow orders that had been given to him by Ronodin.

"That's enough!" snapped Ronodin, whose voice prompted both Seth and Victor to turn their heads to face the unicorn, who was standing in front of the orb.

"Ronodin, why am _I_ in this orb?" asked Victor. "I thought Seth was the one you wanted!"

"Seth is powerful, there's no denying that. But being a perfect duplicate of him, your potential for power is also quite impressive. Why should I stop with just Seth, when I've already gone through the trouble of creating his perfectly good twin?"

"So you _don't_ care about me, do you?"

"I never said that. I just said that I want your power. As well as Seth's. And now, after coming this far, I'm not going to take **no** for an answer!

"What are you going to do with us?" asked Seth, pressing his hands up against the inside of the orb with all the force he could muster. It felt impossible, but Seth was secretly hoping he could crack the glass somehow.

"I'm going to carry out my plan. You two are going to make it all possible. And we're going to do it now!"

All of a sudden, Ronodin's body began to undergo a transformation. He started to grow larger in size, as his upper body fell forward and he stood up on all fours, his arms now a pair of front legs. Black fur started bleeding through Ronodin's skin and clothes; within seconds it had overtaken most of his body.

It was obvious to Seth that Ronodin was transforming into his unicorn form. The altering body did have an equine look to it. However, something was unusual about the way the head was forming. Ronodin's eyes had turned red, and he sported not one, but _three_ horns. Ronodin had transformed, but he was not exactly a unicorn.

"Ronodin..." gasped Seth. "Your real form. It's..."

"A nightmare," said Ronodin. "I know. But take a look at my horns."

Intrigued, Seth and Victor both studied the horns that had sprouted upon Ronodin's forehead. The side horns were all gnarled and twisted, akin to a typical nightmare. However, the middle horn appeared to resemble a normal unicorn horn.

"Your horns..." said Victor. "Normal nightmares only have two."

"Exactly," said Ronodin. "My third horn is the only thing that separates me from other nightmares. I corrupted my first two horns for power. But my third horn allows me to wield light energy on top of dark. But enough about that. The time has come."

Unable to break free from their confinement, Seth and Victor could only watch as Ronodin's two outer horns both began to emanate a black glow.

"What's he doing?" asked Victor, who had broken several seconds of silence.

"You're the one who's been working with Ronodin," said Seth, as Ronodin continued to stand still, horns still glowing. "You tell me."

"I don't know! Honest!"

After a few more seconds had passed, the entire room began to shake.

"What's going on?" asked Victor, as hie and Seth started rumbling around uncontrollably within in the orb.

"It's an earthquake!" cried Seth, pressing his hands against the side of the orb in an attempt to keep his balance.

"It's no earthquake!" stated Ronodin. "It's an uprising!"

As the tremor grew stronger, Victor lost his balance and fell back against the side of the orb, shouting in pain as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you okay?" asked Seth, as he knelt down in front of Victor. Now on his knees, Seth found this new position to be easier than standing with all of the shaking that was going on.

"I just bumped my head," groaned Victor.

Seth winced. He wanted to help Victor, but he had nothing at his disposal. Turning his head to look at out Ronodin, Seth didn't know what to think; it was like the unicorn didn't even care. Except he wasn't a unicorn; he was a nightmare.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the house, the Knights of the Dawn were still being pursued around World's End by the many demons that had been enlisted by Ronodin.

"Do we have to keep fleeing, or do we get to stop and fight these guys already?" asked Ingrid.

"If we stop to attack some of the demons now, we leave ourselves as open targets to more demons!" quipped Firesquall.

"But we need to get to Seth!" said Kendra, looking over towards the house, which Maelstrom was still standing next to.

"Not as long as that Maelstrom character is standing guard," said Warren.

Suddenly, Maelstrom raised her wings and proceeded to leap into the air.

"Oh no!" cried Clover. "She's coming after us!"

"Now what?" asked Geminus.

"I think we better skedaddle," said Warren.

"Wait, she's not actually going after us," said Raxtus, noting that the wyvern was still flapping her wings to stay aloft, but had not actually advanced in any direction. "What's she up to?"

At that moment, the house, along with the entire yard that was surrounding it, began to rise straight up from out of the ground.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Kendra, as the slab of land that contained the whole yard rose up from the ground, leaving behind a depression in its place. "SETH!"

"What's going on?" gasped Ingrid, as the yard continued to escalate.

"That whole house is gonna get crushed if it hits the ceiling of the cavern!" exclaimed Warren. "We've gotta save Seth now!"

"We can't go near there!" said Bracken. "It's too dangerous, even without factoring in Maelstronm."

"Why is this happening?" cried Clover.

Within mere seconds, the rising yard had indeed reached the ceiling of the cavern, while Maelstrom floated in the air alongside it.

"NO!" shrieked Kendra. Watching as the yard pressed up and into the ceiling, Kendra felt as though she was being stabbed in the heart at the very sight of what she was watching.

"No..." said Ingrid, shaking as she shook her head and sulked. "Seth..."

"What's going on?" asked Firesquall, as the yard continued to rise up through the ceiling of the cavern, leaving behind a massive hole in its path which Maelstrom proceeded to fly up into.

"Come on," said Warren in a weary voice. "We need to check this out. But I don't think we're going to like what we see."

The dragons all proceeded to fly up towards the hole that the rising yard had produced in the cavern ceiling. Once they had reached the hole, Kendra noticed that none of the demons were following them, which left her with an odd feeling. Looking upwards, Kendra could see the yard now rising higher and higher through the hole.

"This feels like a trap," said Skyfrost, as he and the other dragons rose up through the wide hole.

"We need to take the bait," said Ingrid. "It may be our only chance at finding Seth. If he's not already _dead_."

"Killing Seth is the last thing Ronodin could want," said Warren. "But this rising house... what's the deal with it? It doesn't add up."

The dragons all darted up through the hole. As they flew out through the top, the had reached on the surface of the Earth. Kendra saw that around the hole, the snow that otherwise sat there was covered with mounds upon mounds of rock and debris,

Looking up towards the sky, Kendra could see that the yard was still rising higher and higher towards the sky, with Maelstrom ascending alongside it.

"What are they doing?" asked Clover.

"We're not going to find out staying down here," said Bracken. "We'd better follow them, but not without keeping a safe distance."

The dragons all continued to fly upwards, making sure to veer away from the the rising island as they slowly began to catch up with it. Soon they were at the same elevation as the continuously rising yard and Maelstrom, but had opted to stay a considerable number of yards away from them.

Looking over at the yard, Kendra could see that it too was covered in a mess of rocks and debris. Remnants of the house that once stood in the center could be seen poking up in a few spots. If Seth hadn't been in the house, then where was he?

"It just keeps going up and up!" exclaimed Ingrid, once the yard had gone up and into the lower layer of clouds that were drifting across the sky.

"I don't get it," said Clover. "It feels like something's really messed up here! Almost as though Ronodin didn't intend for this to happen. It's like something went horribly wrong!"

"It just doesn't add up," said Kendra. "This sort of thing doesn't just... happen. There's no way that this could be an accident. Ronodin's doing this on purpose. I just don't know what _this_ is."

* * *

Once the shaking and trembling had finally come to a stop, Seth opened his eyes. Now that the orb was covered in fallen bricks, floorboards and other debris, he found that it was very hard to see anything among the darkness.

"Victor, where are we?" asked Seth, hyperventilating. Unsure of where they so much as even were, he felt that he needed someone to at least make sure his superbulb was still alive.

"It stopped," said Victor, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I can't see a thing!"

"You don't have to tell me."

"You have my phone!" said Seth. "Turn on the flashlight!"

Before Victor could so much as give a response, all of the debris that had been covering the orb suddenly slid off, akin to someone pulling a cloth off of a table in one tug. Standing on the other side of the orb was Ronodin, still in his nightmare form. However, what really surprised Seth was that he could now see that the open sky was directly above the basement, where the ceiling initially stood.

"Are we in the sky?" asked Victor.

"Indeed," said Ronodin.

"The sky?" asked Seth. "You brought this whole place up into the sky? How? Or more importantly, why?"

"Angel power alone isn't enough for this containment unit to operate. It requires a stronger magic than that. It requires the magic that binds this very preserve!

Ronodin then shot a beam of blue energy out of his middle horn at the orb. Unable to feel the energy that was coursing through it, Seth watched as the orb rose out of the basement and hovered above the surrounding yard.

* * *

"It's Seth!" gasped Skyfrost, who was watching what was happening from a distance, along with the others.

"Both of him!" exclaimed Firesquall.

"You guys have the best eyesight out of all of us," said Raxtus. "What's happening?"

"Wish I knew," replied Skyfrost. "But Seth and that _other_ Seth are definitely in that orb thing."

* * *

"What are you doing?" asked Seth, now that the orb was hovering over the yard.

"It is time," said Ronodin. "Everything is finally in position. You are to become angels! Both of you!"

Ronodin proceeded to blast the orb with another beam from his middle horn. This one far more intense than Ronodin's previous beam, Seth could now feel its energy flowing through his body at an alarming rate.

"Seth!" gasped Victor. "I feel funny!"

"Me too," groaned Seth, who found that he could do nothing except endure the energy that was coursing through his body.

"What's going on?" asked Ronodin. "Neither of you are becoming angels! I've absorbed Melody's power, and I still don't have enough to actually pull this off!"

"Don't you get it?" said Seth. "This won't work!"

"It will work! It has to work!"

"You know what, Ronodin," said Victor. "I may only be an enhanced stingbulb. But I don't care anymore. I don't care if you did give me life, I'm through with you! I'd rather go live with Seth!"

"Really?" asked Seth, as he started to think of the potential he would suddenly have if he were to resume living life at Fablehaven with his newfound twin brother.

"Neither of you will be going anywhere," said Ronodin. "Should I succeed at bringing out your angel forms, this orb has been specifically designed to restrain your powers, making escape from here _impossible_."

* * *

"We've got to get to Seth now!" said Ingrid. "Even if there is a huge, powerful wyvern blocking our way."

"But we can't take on a wyvern of her stature!" said Skyfrost. "What are we supposed to do?"

"There's only one thing we can do," said Kendra. "I need to become fairyprime. If I do that, I may become strong enough to deal with Maelstrom."

"Are you sure about this, Kendra?" asked Bracken. "We thought we'd be saving every last possible ounce of our power for you so that you could stand a chance against Ronodin. If you exhaust your power against Maelstrom, Ronodin could still potentially overwhelm you."

"It's a risk we have to take," said Kendra.

Warren took in a deep breath. "I understand. But if you can find a way, any way at all, to get past Maelstrom without wasting too much energy, by all means go for it. I only wish I had an actual strategy I could've provided yourwith, rather than just telling you to go by instinct."

"I'll do what I can. I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be."

"Understood," said Clover. "But what about Maelstrom?"

"Leave her to us," said Skyfrost. "We may not be able to beat her, but we can provide a distraction."

Clover, Bracken, Raxtus and Geminus all closed their eyes and allowed themselves to focus. A moment later, the four of them transformed into colorful glowing balls of light, as did Warren.

With Raxtus gone, Kendra now floating in midair, her body no doubt being restrained from falling by some sort of mystical force. Before she could take a moment to think, every ball of light went shooting into her body, causing her to experience an overload of power flowing through her veins.

Lastly, Kendra could feel wings spouting out of her back. She had done it. She had successfully assumed her fairyprime form. At least that part was over with. Now she could stay aloft by flapping her wings. However, it was only the first obstacle she had to overcome. Before her stood her real challenge. And it was one that she was not entirely confident that she could truly handle.

At the same time, Skyfrost had immediately swooped in and caught Ingrid on his back, just as she started to fall from the spot where Geminus had been.

" _Help me_!" squeaked a tiny voice, prompting Kendra to turn her head. Floating next to her was Melody, still in her diminutive form.

" **You**!" blurted Kendra, upon seeing the lyrabelle. Her mind so fixated on Maelstrom, Kendra didn't even think to ask as to why Melody was now small, nor was she particularly interested. "You've caused enough trouble!"

" _But, but..._ "

"We'll deal with you later," said Kendra, turning her head back to face the yard. "Right now we've got _real_ problems that need to be dealt with."


	32. The Ultimate Power

**Chapter 32: The Ultimate Power**

Floating high in the sky amongst the clouds that were drifting over the Antarctic tunda, Kendra stared ahead at the floating island that had previously been the yard at World's End. Flapping her wings next to the island was Maelstrom, determined to keep anyone and everyone from going anywhere near it.

Now in her fairyprime form, Kendra did not need the help of Raxtus to remain airborne, for she sported her own set of fairy wings. By her side were Skyfrost and Firesquall, along with Ingrid, who was now seated upon the icy wyvern's backside.

"You ready, Kendra?" asked Firesquall.

"Ready as I'll ever be," replied Kendra, uncertain of how confident she was genuinely feeling. The blistering wind that was rushing past her face felt insignificant compared to the butterflies that were rioting within her stomach.

"Okay," said Skyfrost. "Let's do this!"

"Be careful!" shouted Kendra, just as Skyfrost and Firesquall both shot off directly towards Maelstrom, with Ingrid in tow.

Kendra watched as an array of beams composed of ice, fire and electricity all suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and simultaneously blasted Maelstrom, taking the massive wyvern by surprise. In retaliation, the gargantuan dragon let out a tremendous, bellowing roar and proceeded to lunge at the two wyverns, both of whom veered out of her path.

With Maelstrom now distracted, Kendra proceeded to fly over towards the yard. Although she was nowhere near as fast as Skyfrost or Firesquall, nor any dragon for that matter, she still managed to reach the yard relatively quickly.

Once she arrived at the site of the demolished house, Kendra came to a stop. Before her, floating above all of the fallen rocks and debris that littered the yard, was the orb that Seth and Victor were trapped within.

"Seth!" cried Kendra, relieved to see with her own two eyes that her brother was still alive, along with his stingbulb double.

"Kendra!" exclaimed Seth, who was surprised to see Kendra, floating outside the orb in her fairyprime form, rainbow-streaked hair flowing through the wind. Looking at Victor, Seth could see that even his double appeared to be elated.

"Ah," said Ronodin, stepping atop a pile of fallen rocks from the rear. "What have we here?" Now that she could see the nightmare in his true form, Kendra recalled just how dangerous he truly was; making contact with his body would inevitably prove to be fatal.

"Give it up, Ronodin!" stated Kendra. "You have no idea what I'm capable of. I suggest you surrender."

"Surrender? Why I would I choose to surrender? Especially now? I don't know what's happened to you, but I can _taste_ the power that's emanating from within you."

"Kendra..." said Victor doubtfully. "You can do this, right?"

"I hope so," said Kendra, eyeing Ronodin. She thought to herself that if Ronodin was now a nightmare, then the last thing she would want to do would be to make contact with his body, lest it result in her to suddenly drop dead.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" asked Ronodin. "I'm more than a unicorn. I'm more than a nightmare. I am a _warlock_!"

"Well, I'm fairyprime," said Kendra, "And I'm going to put an end to your tyranny right now!"

Kendra proceeded to hold out her hands towards Ronodin. Intrigued by what Kendra would do next, Ronodin watched as Kendra focused for a moment, before her hands began to glow in a vivid array of colors. Suddenly a rainbow shot out from her hands and beamed itself directly upon Ronodin's body.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Seth, watching as the light from the rainbow flowed out of Kendra's hands and into Ronodin's body. "Let him have it!"

A few seconds later, Ronodin began to chuckled, as the end of the rainbow that was flowing into him began to decrease in size. Within seconds, the rainbow had narrowed in on his centered, true unicorn horn.

"What's going on?" asked Victor.

"It's no good, Kendra," said Seth. "He's absorbing your power through his unicorn horn!"

"I can see that," said Kendra, swerving her hands around in an attempt to aim the rainbow away from Ronodin's horn. She aimed it down at Ronodin's legs, only for the colorful beam to inexplicably bend up and flow into his middle horn. When that didn't work, Kendra swayed her hands from side to side, away from Ronodin's body entirely, but found that the rainbow was uncontrollably finding and bending its way towards the spirlled horn that sat in the center of the nightmare's forehead.

Not knowing what else to do, Kendra simply ceased the rainbow she was producing and lowered her hands. However, she noticed that Ronodin's unicorn horn was now brimming with a glow of all the colors of the rainbow

Ronodin then chuckled. "Is that the best you can do? Well, good! You've actually gone and done me a huge favor!"

"What do you mean, _favor_?" asked Seth.

"I've absorbed all of the power that your sister has unwillingly _bestowed_ upon me. Fairy power that I so desperately needed. Fairy power that I can hold within my third horn. Power that allows me to do t _his_!"

Facing the orb, Ronodin shot a beam of rainbow-colored energy at it from his unicorn horn. The moment the beam came in contact with the orb, Seth could feel a exhilarating and overpowering flow all throughout his body. Looking at Victor, Seth could only imagine that his duplicate was undergoing the same sensation.

As the intensity of the fairy energy that was flowing through his body only grew stronger and stronger, Seth felt as though he he was losing control of himself. He wasn't experiencing any form of pain; rather he almost felt as though he had been immobilized,

"Stop!" cried Kendra, not knowing how she should be dealing with Ronodin, given that the nightmare seemed to be resilient towards her power. She had to do something to help Seth, but she wasn't sure as to what that could be.

At that moment, Seth experienced the feeling of his angel wings suddenly bursting their way through his shoulder blades and piercing through his clothes as they expanded out to their full size.

"YES!" screamed Ronodin. "AT LAST! I'VE DONE IT!"

"Seth!" gasped Victor. "Do something! Get us out of here!"

"Seth can't _do_ anything!" said Ronodin, as he continued to direct more energy at the orb. "This orb has been designed to withstand magic from within! Now, you'd better become an angel too, Victor!"

Kendra then held out her hands towards the orb and shot out a flash of pink lightning from her fingertips at it. However, the bolt was merely deflected off the surface of the orb the moment it came into contact with it.

"You'd think I'd make the orb that easy to tamper with?" asked Ronodin. "Now, Victor. Are you going to become an angel too, or not?"

"I don't... know!" hollered Victor, as more energy continued to flow throughout the orb.

"Leave him alone!" snapped Kendra.

"Or else _what_?" asked Ronodin. "You're gonna blast me with more energy? That's what got Seth here to be an angel in the first place! And if you're not going to become an angel for me, Victor, then I have no more need for you!"

At that point, Ronodin finally stopped directing energy into the orb from his horn. Seth took a moment to catch his breath, then focused in an attempt to burst through the orb using his angelic powers. However, despite feeling the energy flowing through his wings, he only succeeded in doing nothing.

"I told you that's not going to work," huffed Ronodin. "Now, to put your power to the real test!"

Kendra, Seth and Victor all watched as Ronodin's two side horns both began to emit a black glow. Suddenly, there was a pitch black flash of complete darkness. Once the darkness dissipated, a collection of demons could now be seen hovering all over the surrounding area. Just their mere presence was already sending a heavy chill down Kendra's spine.

Kendra studied a few of the demons for a moment. One of them looked rather familiar, giving her the impression that they were simply the demons that had been chasing them down in World's End. Ronodin had seemingly summoned them up into the sky.

"Kendra!" blurted Victor. "What are we going to do?"

"There's so many of them," said Kendra, gazing around at the horde of demons. Every last one of the demons remained completely still, as though Ronodin had them under some sort of hypnotic spell. Kendra was concerned that if she were to attack just one of the demons, twenty others might gang up on her all at once.

"You're not going to do anything about those demons," said Ronodin. "Seth and I will handle them."

"Me and you?" asked Seth. "What are you talking about?"

Ronodin shot another beam of energy at the orb from his middle horn. However, rather than overloading his body with a surge of power, Seth instead felt as though his body was being relieved of all the excess energy that had been building up within himself.

The orb then began to glow brilliantly. The golden glow had become so intense, that Seth found himself being nearly blinded by the light. He and Kendra watched as beams of the golden light shot out of the orb in every direction.

Seth and Kendra continued to watch as some of the golden beams flew directly into numerous demons. As each demon was hit, its body seemingly appeared to disintegrate upon contact. Within seconds, every last demon that Ronodin had summoned appeared to have vanished.

At the same time, Seth, who was now feeling completely weary, felt as his wings contracted themselves back into his body. Ronodin glanced at Seth, then snorted.

"What's going on?" asked Victor. "What happened to all those demons?"

Ronodin chuckled. "Don't you get it? They've all been destroyed! Can't you see how easy that was? But I couldn't have done it alone. I needed this special orb, along with the power of an angel to make it possible."

"But, why?" asked Kendra.

"To destroy every last one of these demons! What we've accomplished right now is merely a sample, microscopic in scale, compared to what I truly intend to do."

"What do you mean, sample?" asked Seth.

"The more power that's channeled into the orb, the more distance it can cover. What transpired just now was only a very small radius. With enough fairy power, and an angel such as yourself contained within this orb, I can wipe out the entire demon population across Earth in one go!"

"You can't!" exclaimed Kendra. "I know that demons are our enemy, but you can't just kill every last one of them en masse like this!"

"If they could do the same to us, they would!"

"But that's what separates us from demons," said Seth. "And there's no way I'm going to let you keep me around so you can actually accomplish _that_!"

"Seth," said Ronodin. "If that's going to be your decision, so be it. After all, the real prize here is not so much you, but your power."

"What are you getting at?" asked Victor. "Our angelic powers belong to us! We couldn't _give_ them to you if we wanted to!"

"Of course you couldn't. Especially _you_ , Victor. If you're not going to cooperate, I am through with you!"

Ronodin then shot the orb with a beam of black energy from one of his nightmare horns. The impact of the beam caused a section of the glass to seemingly melt away, creating an opening large enough for Seth and Victor to fit through.

"Get out!" shouted Ronodin. "Both of you!"

Seth and Victor both stepped out of the orb and stood before Ronodin.

"Be careful," said Kendra. "Whatever you do, don't let him touch you when he's in his nightmare form."

"Stay out of this!" blared Ronodin, as he shot beams of black energy out of his side horns at Kendra. The force of the impact not only made her body go numb, but sent her flying into the air and off the edge of the yard.

"KENDRA!" screamed Seth and Victor.

"She's got wings," said Ronodin. "She'll be fine."

However, Kendra was not fine. As she plunged dozens and dozens of feet downwards from the sky, Kendra found herself unable to move any part of her body. She felt as though she had been completely petrified. Not only was she unable to spread her wings, but she found that she was unable to use any sort of magic.

Where were Skyfrost and Firesquall? Unable to so much as move her head around, Kendra found that she was unable to look for them. And even if she could, her voice wouldn't be loud enough for them to hear her.

Suddenly, Bracken appeared next to Kendra. He immediately snapped his fingers, prompting both Kendra and himself to cease from falling any further, leaving the two of them suspended in midair.

"Bracken," said Kendra, struggling to even so much as move her lips. "You're okay."

"I'm not physically apart of you when you become fairyprime," said Bracken.

"I can't move! Ronodin did something to me."

"I know. Let me fix it."

Bracken moved his face up in front of Kendra's and proceeded to plant a kiss upon her lips. Upon contact, Kendra could feel energy surging out of Bracken's lip and flowing all throughout her body. Kendra didn't feel any stronger, but she found that she was able to move again.

"Thank you," said Kendra, once her lips and Bracken's were separate again.

"Let's skip the sentiments," said Bracken. "Your brother and that _Victor_ fella need our help now!"

"I know. But I think we may need more help. Ronodin seems _really_ powerful. I'm going to send a signal for help."

Bracken then allowed himself to transform back into a ball of shimmering, platinum light, which was immediately absorbed into Kendra's body. Able to move around once more, Kendra began to flap her wings fiercely and propelled herself back up towards the yard.

On her way up, Kendra produced a small amount of concentrated energy in her hand. She then thrust her arm forward and unleashed the energy bolt into the air. The energy shot across the sky, leaving behind a trail of white sparkles in its path, before vanishing out of sight.

* * *

Back up upon the yard, it did not take very long for Seth and Victor to find themselves trapped. Standing before them was Ronodin; to their rear was a large, insurmountable boulder.

"Let's make this easy for us," said Ronodin, as he slowly stepped forward towards the two boys. Agree to cooperate with me, and allow me to freely utilize your angelic powers, so that we can eliminate every last demon on this forsaken planet."

"You're out of your mind!" said Victor.

"Stay out of this, Victor," said Ronodin. "Until I can figure out how to trigger your angelic powers, let alone if you even possess any, you are but a decoy. Now step aside!"

"Victor, use the Pyruby!" muttered Seth.

"I can't," said Victor. "I can't hurt Ronodin. He created me."

"You're not _helping_!" said Seth, as he leaned over towards Victor to reach for his bag, only for the superbulb to dangle it away from him.

With only a few ever-so-slightly decreasing yards between themselves and Rondoin, Seth began to fear for his life. Likewise, he sensed that Victor did as well. After all, Victor _was_ his double.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way..." said Ronodin.

Meanwhile, Kendra had flown herself back up to the yard. Looking down at all the debris and rocks that were scattered across the yard, Kendra could see Ronodin as he stepped closer towards Seth and Victor. As his back was turned, Ronodin had failed to notice her. Seth and Victor also didn't notice Kendra, presumably because they were too preoccupied with Ronodin.

Not knowing how it would be possible for her to deal with Ronodin, Kendra decided the next best thing that she could do would be to offer assistance to Seth and Victor. She had to think fast. She knew that Ronodin wanted Seth, but not Victor. The two of them were identical. But they were dressed differently.

Having had a sudden brainstorm, Kendra held out her hands and shot out two streams of rainbow-colored sparkles down towards Seth and Victor. One stream hit Seth, while the other had targeted Victor.

The moment the sparkles made contact with his body, Seth found himself in complete shock, for he had not even noticed his sister a moment ago. Before his brain could so much as process what had happened, Seth was now inexplicably standing atop the large boulder, along with Victor.

Only something was amiss. Victor was now wearing a completely different set of clothes. Different jacket, different pants. Seth then looked down at his own body and saw that he too was wearing a matching set of the same clothes. As far as Ronodin could tell, the two boys now looked exactly the same. Even the bags they were holding matched.

" _It worked!"_ thought Kendra to herself.

"You're back..." said Ronodin, who had turned her head back to look at Kendra, then faced forward again to look up at Seth and Victor.

"Now you don't know who's who."

Ronodin snorted. "You're Seth!" he said, staring directly at Victor.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Victor.

"You were standing to my _right_ before appearing up there. You just moved up!"

"How do you know we didn't also switch sides?" asked Seth, hoping that his remark wouldn't give away too much information. He and Victor had indeed switched positions.

Kendra then directed more of her magical sparkles at Seth and Victor. Upon being touched, Seth and Victor disappeared again, only to reappear on the ground next to where Kendra was hovering.

"I can keep this up _all_ day," said Kendra, smiling at Ronodin. "But that would get boring."

Ronodin let loose a ferocious snarl. "MAELSTROM!" he roared, in a booming voice that sounded far too loud to be coming from a creature of his proportions. "I NEED YOU!"

In the distance, a powerful roar could be heard. In a matter of seconds, the enormous reptile, who had been out of the picture since she had flown off earlier, appeared from out of the distance. She came flying up towards the island and set her huge talons down upon the edge of it. Her body towered over everyone else there.

"We tried to hold her off as long as we could!" shouted Ingrid, as she came riding in atop Skyfrost, alongside Firesquall. "But she wouldn't give up!"

"What's going on?" asked Firesquall.

"Maelstrom, it's time to stop playing around," said Ronodin. "I want you to deal with these pests. For good!"


	33. Balance

**Chapter 33: Balance**

Kendra, Seth, Victor, Ingrid, Skyfrost and Firesquall all glanced at Ronodin, then turned their heads to look over at Maelstrom.

"Maelstrom?" muttered Ingrid. "What are we supposed to do? We were barely able to distract her!"

"We can't actually _figh_ t her!" exclaimed Skyfrost.

"Exactly," said Ronodin. "I don't want for anyone to actually get hurt, so I'm only going to say this once; If you are not Seth or Victor, leave here immediately."

"No!" exclaimed Victor. "Don't do this to us!"

"We are not leaving without both of them!" said Kendra, who wasn't even sure if she herself could differentiate which of the two boys was truly Seth, and which one was Victor.

"Oh yes you will," said Ronodin. His middle horn lit up, and in the blink of an eye, both Seth and Victor disappeared, only to reappear next to the nightmare.

"Not this again!" said Kendra, as she proceeded to aim her hands towards Seth and Victor.

"Maelstrom, I can't afford to waste any more strength right now. Kindly show our unwanted guests the way out."

Before Kendra could focus on conjuring up her strength, Maelstrom had already aimed her face at Kendra and her allies. The wyvern opened her mouth and exerted a powerful gust of wind at the group. The force of the blowing air was so intense, that Kendra suddenly found herself struggling just to keep both feet on the ground.

"The wind!" exclaimed Kendra, barely able to keep her balance against the heavy flow of air. "It's so strong!"

"Don't let go, Ingrid!" cried Skyfrost, who had his wings curled up and his talons rooted around several rocks.

"Leave them alone!" shouted Seth.

As the wind gradually grew stronger, Kendra ultimately lost her footing, and began to fly backwards uncontrollably. However, her ride was cut short when her back crashed into what felt like a soft, leathery blanket.

"I gotcha!" uttered Firesquall, alerting Kendra that he had caught her in his outstretched wing, which he proceeded to pull in towards his body.

"That's enough!" said Victor, as he pulled the Pyruby out of his bag and aimed it at Ronodin.

"What's that?!" blurted Ronodin, just as Victor shot a stream of fire directly in front of him. "Whoa!"

Ronodin backed away from the fire, then shot a beam of dark energy out of each of his nightmare horns at Seth and Victor. Upon reaching the two boys, the darkness beams caused black, transparent energy domes to manifest around the two of them.

"Now I've got you," said Ronodin, as he turned back to face Kendra and the others. "As for the rest of you... Maelstrom, give them more force! I want them _gone_!"

Within seconds, the wind that had Maelstrom had been exhaling in Kendra's direction began to increase its intensity. Struggling to so much as even keep her head facing forwards, Kendra found herself unable to think about how a seemingly endless stream of air could continuously flow out of the wyvern's lungs.

"The wind's too strong!" growled Firesquall, just as Kendra sensed that the wyvern who was holding her was slowly being pushed backwards due to the intense wind, which was already causing small boulders to go flying off the island.

Kendra groaned. "Why am I letting them push _me_ around? I'm better than this!"

Gripping on to Firesquall with one hand, Kendra held her other hand forward against the wind. She then unleashed a rainbow from her palm, which went flying directly at Ronodin, nearly knocking the nightmare off his hooves.

"Enough!" snapped Ronodin, as he stumbled to retain his footing. He then exerted beams of black energy from his two outer horns. Both beams shot directly towards Kendra, weaving their way around Firesquall's wing and into her body.

The moment Kendra was hit, she could feel as her body suddenly began to feel weaker. Within seconds, Bracken, Warren, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus, all appeared around her and Firesquall, causing Kendra to regress back from her fairyprime form.

Before anyone could react, Kendra watched as her friends were all immediately swept up by the wind and went flying off the edge.

"NO!" screamed Ingrid in horror.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, the five figures that had been blown off the island reappeared next to the energy fields that were surrounding both Seth and Victor. Seeing that they were all on solid ground again gave Kendra a feeling of relief.

"Keep the others busy, Maelstrom," said Ronodin, as his nightmare horns began to glow black. "I'll deal with these five myself."

"Do something!" exclaimed Ingrid.

"Like what?" asked Bracken. "That hit took a lot out of us! We wouldn't be able to endure a second!"

"And I can't aim the Diavolt with all this wind!" cried Ingrid, holding on to Skyfrost desperately as the blue wyvern neared the edge of the yard. "Warren, do something!"

"Got it," said Warren, as he pulled the Sapphazure out from his bag. Before Ronodin could react, Warren shot a blast of water at him, sending the nightmare flying into the face of a boulder.

"Get us out of here!" shouted Seth, banging against the inside of the energy field that he was entrapped in. "Hurry!"

"I can't banish you far," said Ronodin, leaping out of the stream of water that had been pushing him back, his body all sopping wet. "But I'll send you far enough!"

Ronodin shot a beam of blue energy towards Warren, Bracken, Clover, Raxtus and Geminus. The quintet all disappeared, only to reappear between Skyfrost and Firesquall, who were still caught in Maelstrom's seemingly endless stream of wind.

As Raxtus and Geminus were heavy enough to endure the wind pressure, they remained on the ground. However, before Warren, Bracken and Clover could go flying, they found themselves being caught by Raxtus, Geminus and Skyfrost respectively.

"The wind's only gotten worse!" cried Firesquall. By now, Kendra felt as though the wind was going to blow the skin right off of her face, the way she had been bracing it.

"Don't hold back, Maelstrom," said Ronodin, as he walked up to Seth. "I need something from Seth and I need it **now**."

"Uh... how do you know _I'm_ the real Seth?" asked Seth.

"You think I'm an idiot? **You** didn't have that fire jewel on your person after I captured you. Victor no doubt has it because he and you swapped places!"

Seth felt dumbstruck. "How do you know that I didn't give it back to _Seth_?"

"I'm not falling for your trickery!" snapped Ronodin. "Besides, I can just absorb both of your powers at the same time."

"We're gonna fall!" cried Ingrid, once Skyfrost's talons were no more than a foot away from the edge of the yard.

"It's not so bad," said Skyfrost. "We can just fly back!"

"What good'll that do?" asked Warren. "No matter what direction we approach from, Maelstrom will get us!"

"It is time," said Ronodin, as he exerted a beam of dark energy from each of his horns at the energy fields that surrounded Seth and Victor, causing them to disappear.

Before anyone could react, Ronodin shot another small blast of dark energy at the Pyruby that was in Victor's hand. The relic suddenly vanished, only to reappear underneath the nightmare's body. "I'll just hold on to _this_ , thank you very much. And now, to sap your power!"

"You can't!" cried Bracken, as Ronodin's middle horn started to glow blue. "You can't do this!"

"Can and will!" huffed Ronodin, as he fired a beam of blue energy from his unicorn horn, which spread outwards like a spotlight, capturing both Seth and Victor within it.

"I can't move!" exclaimed Seth, now experiencing a tingling feeling from the beam in addition to being immobilized.

"NO!" shrieked Kendra, just as Firesquall and the others were blown off the edge of the yard.

Flapping their wings frantically, the dragons found that they were unable to retain control of themselves as the hurricane-level wind blew them away from the yard and into the sky.

"There!" exclaimed Geminus after a few seconds, as the wind immediately died down.

Kendra and the others all looked back towards the island, where they could see a large, pink, transparent field of energy floating between it and their current location.

"Nice save, Geminus," said Ingrid.

"It won't hold for long," said Geminus.

"I've only got one shot at this," said Kendra, glaring at Ronodin. "Raxtus! Get me to Ronodin! I know it's dangerous, but it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"But we could get hurt!" said Raxtus, as Firesquall drifted over to him and placed Kendra up atop his backside, where she assumed a sitting position.

"I have Vasilis," said Kendra. "It might be our only hope."

"I understand," said Raxtus. "Hang on!"

Kendra reached into her bag and pulled out one of the invisibility gloves, which she slipped over her left hand. As Kendra tightened her grasp on Raxtus' neck spines, her body became completely clear. At the same time, Raxtus proceeded to make himself invisible as well.

Raxtus immediately veered around the side of Geminus' barrier. He then flew over and onto the floating yard, landing only feet away from Ronodin. Their entrance had been so sudden, that it distracted Ronodin, stopping him during his attempt to absorb Seth and Victor's powers.

"You..." said Ronodin, as Kendra removed her glove, causing her body to phase back into view. Kendra then jumped down off of Raxtus and unsheathed Vasilis from her back.

"No... **you**!" said Kendra, as she held wielded Vasilis in her right hand and the Emerock in her left.

"Maelstrom!"

The wyvern unleashed a trembling roar, then lowered her head down towards where Kendra was standing.

"Make one move and she'll freeze you where you stand!" stated Ronodin.

"You should've stayed invisible..." muttered Seth, then remembering that the mate to Kendra's glove was probably sitting in the bag that Victor was holding.

"Please!" said Victor. "Put down that sword! You can't hurt Ronodin!"

"I'm sorry, Victor," said Kendra, as she stepped towards Ronodin, clenching the hilt of Vasilis firmly within her hand.

"Begone!" said Ronodin, as his two nightmare horns both began to glow black. Bolts of darkness then shot out of the horns at Kendra. Kendra quickly held out Vasilis in front of herself, shielding herself from the blasts with the blade.

"KENDRA!" cried Seth and Victor, watching as Kendra held on for dear life while she continued to hold Vasilis before herself to block the continuous flow of darkness that was running from Ronodin's horns to the legendary sword.

Seth wanted to help, but with Ronodin's unicorn horn still diverting its energy towards both himself and Victor, even without facing them, Seth was unable to move.

Neither Kendra or Seth were able to think of a solution to their dilemma. Even if Raxtus or the others were to try to help them, they too risked getting hit by either Ronodin or Maelstrom.

Without any warning, Seth watched as several colorful balls of light suddenly shot down at Kendra from above.

Kendra could feel her inner power increasing significantly with every ball that she absorbed, when she realized what was going on; this was the response to the distress call she had sent out earlier! The other fairy angels got the message and had no doubt rushed to her aid!

Her body now brimming with power, Kendra assumed her fairyprime form. Her translucent, glimmering wings expanded from her back, while a rainbow of streaks appeared through her hair. The very presence of her fairyprime form was so great, it even caused Ronodin's darkness bolts to ricochet off of Vasilis, the blade of which was now burning with white fire, and go flying off into the sky, causing the nightmare to stop exerting energy from all three of his horns.

" _ **This**_ again?!" huffed Ronodin. "Maelstrom! Deal with her, and do it right!"

Maelstrom let out another earth-shaking roar, then loomed her head down towards Kendra.

"Be quiet," said Kendra as she shot a beam of glowing white light from Vasilis at Maelstrom. Suddenly, a tremendous chain, the huge links of which were all made of light, appeared around Maelstrom. The chain rapidly wrapped itself around Maelstrom's body, pressing her wings against her torso, effectively trapping them. Another end of the chain quickly wrapped itself around the wyvern's snout, forcing it closed.

"Maelstrom!" exclaimed Ronodin, as the restrained wyvern struggled to maintain her balance, managing to topple over onto her side after only a few seconds. Kendra and Seth watched as a series of variously-colored smoke and sparks shot out of Maelstrom's right nostril, while another series, mismatched from the other, came from the left nostril. As of now, Maelstrom could do little other than squirm and groan.

"That just leaves **you** ," said Kendra, as she held Vasilis forward at Ronodin.

"No!" exclaimed Victor, as he ran between where Kendra and Ronodin were standing. Kendra was still tempted to attack Ronodin at this point, but didn't want to risk hurting Victor.

"Get out of my way, Victor!" said Ronodin.

"Please!" exclaimed Victor. "It's because of Ronodin that I exist! I don't want you to hurt him!"

"Victor, he's still bad!" said Seth.

"I know," said Victor, "but I feel loyal to..."

As Victor spoke, Ronodin shot more bolts from his nightmare horns, which swerved around Victor and flew into Kendra.

Upon impact, Kendra could feel as her strength waned drastically, and her wings disappeared. A moment later, Kendra found herself now surrounded by Bright, Brillia, Bravia, Brook, Tiara, Opal, Shiara and Ariel, who had no doubt been ejected from within her.

"I'll get you..." huffed Ronodin, who now started to sound legitimately exhausted, as he took in several deep breaths.

"He's weak from that blast," said Bright. "Unfortunately, so are all of us."

At this point, the wyverns returned, along with Ingrid, Warren and Clover.

"Come on, Kendra," said Bracken. "Finish him off with Vasilis."

As the sword that Kendra was holding was still brimming with power, she pointed it at Ronodin again, though Victor still opted to stand in her way.

"You'll destroy him!" cried Victor, as he backed up towards Ronodin.

"This has to be done," said Kendra.

"Victor!" muttered Ronodin, as the superbulb continued to walk back towards the nightmare. "Get away from me!"

"I can't stop them all," said Victor, as he stopped next to Ronodin. "But Ronodin, thank you for giving me life."

Victor then began to move his hand towards Ronodin.

"No!" shrieked Ronodin, shaking his head frantically. "Don't touch me!"

"I just want to..."

But it was too late. The moment that Victor's bare hand made contact with Ronodin's black fur, the superbulb immediately collapsed on the spot, leaving behind a motionless body.

"Victor!" exclaimed Seth, as he ran up towards his fallen twin.

"What happened?" asked Skyfrost.

"Ronodin is a nightmare," replied Tiara. "Direct contact with one is fatal."

"Is Victor... _dead_?" asked Ingrid.

"What have I done?" asked Ronodin, as Warren dashed over towards Victor and kneeled down in front of him.

"He's dead," said Warren wearily, holding Victor's wrist in an effort to feel for a pulse.

"No," said Ronodin, as he transformed himself back into his human avatar. "I didn't want to kill Victor. I didn't want to kill any of you."

"Tell that to _her_ ," said Firesquall, glancing over at Maelstrom, who was still chained up.

"Please!" exclaimed Ronodin, as his staff, forged from his two corrupted horns, materialized in his hand. "You don't understand! This wasn't what I wanted! It's my horns that are doing this to me! They're corrupt!"

"They're still a part of you," said Bracken, crossing his arms. "This is your fault."

"I know," said Ronodin, as he shook his right hand up and down, still clenching the staff within it. "But I can't remove myself from these horns. They've taken over me. I can't even let go of them."

Ronodin then wrapped his left hand around the staff, and was able to release his right from it. But he now appeared to be unable to let go off the staff with his left hand.

"What kind of twisted joke is this?" asked Seth.

"I've never been able to resist these horns," said Ronodin, as his left hand started to turn completely black.

"What's happening?" asked Ingrid, as the darkness that had consumed Ronodin's hand slowly made its way up his arm.

"The horns are fighting against the unicorn within me!" gasped Ronodin, who sounded legitimately frightened. "Please... Help."

As the darkness on Ronodin's arm crawled past his elbow, Kendra and Seth didn't know what to think. On the one hand, Ronodin had been causing problem after problem. On the other hand, perhaps he really _was_ being influenced by his corrupted horns. And on the _other_ other hand, darkness had been spreading through it and up to Ronodin's shoulder.

"Ronodin may be bad, but we can't let _this_ continue," said Kendra. "Everyone, give Ronodin your strength. Fight his corrupted horns."

All of the fairy angels held their hands out towards Ronodin, and exerted streams of sparkles in all of their signature colors at Ronodin's staff. Likewise, Raxtus and Geminus exhaled their fiery energy at it.

After a moment, all of the energies came to a halt. However, the darkness was now spreading over towards the right side of Ronodin's body.

"We're all too weak," said Brillia. "Even with our combined power, we can't stop it!"

"Maybe..." said Ingrid, as she ran over towards Seth and planted a surprise kiss on his lips.

"Hey!" snapped Seth, pushing Ingrid away from himself as his angel wings burst out of his back. He could feel his entire body tingling with power.

"Help him, Seth," said Ingrid.

Seth glanced at Ronodin, whose entire body, save for his head, had been engulfed in darkness. Narrowing his brow, Seth glared at the staff that Ronodin was holding, feeling as energy surged through his wings.

Suddenly, the black staff began to emit a golden glow. In a brilliant flash of light, it disappeared from Ronodin's hand.

"What?" said Ronodin, as his entire body began to give off the same golden glow. "What's happening to me?"

Everyone watched as Ronodin's glowing body began to change shape. Within seconds, he went from being humanoid and took a horse-like shape.

"Seth!" exclaimed Kendra. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know!" replied Seth.

At that moment, the glow that had been surrounding Ronodin slowly faded. Standing in the spot where Ronodin had been standing was no nightmare. In his place stood a stunning, blue unicorn.


	34. True Nature

**Chapter 34: True Nature**

Everybody stared in awe at the blue unicorn that stood before them. It was such a huge contrast to the nightmare that had been in that same spot only moments ago. The unicorn had azure fur, complemented with a mane and tail which both consisted of lime green hair.

"R-R-Ronodin?" asked Seth, uncertain as to what exactly had just happened. He couldn't tell whether something had truly changed, or if the nightmare was just pulling some sort of facade.

"This is too weird," said Kendra.

"Careful," said Bracken. "We don't know what he's capable of."

"Fairies, be ready," said Brillia, as she held out her hands. The rest of the fairy angels all followed Brillia's lead and held their hands forward as well.

Ronodin's pearly-white horn started to glow blue.

"Ronodin..." said Seth.

At that moment a white flag, small enough to be held in one hand, materialized in midair in front of Ronodin's face. It then began to wave itself back and forth, no doubt under Ronodin's power.

"At ease," said Brillia, prompting all the other fairy angels to lower their hands, as she did so herself.

"What's going on?" asked Ingrid. "Has Ronodin really changed?"

Ronodin telekinetically lowered his flag to the ground and nodded. "Yes," he said, speaking in a much calmer voice for once. "My corrupted horns have been destroyed. Thank you, Seth. I feared that I was about to be completely consumed by them. I don't know what I would have done."

"I think you have a bit of explaining to do," said Raxtus, as everyone else nodded in approval.

"I know," said Ronodin, as tears began to flow out down from his eyes. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"A unicorn can only cry tears of sincerity," said Brook. "But what you've done... I don't even know where to begin..."

"You killed Victor!" said Seth, as he knelt down by the fallen superbulb.

"That was an accident," said Ronodin. "I never intended to do Victor, or any of you, any harm."

"Never intended to do any harm?" asked Warren. "From the moment we first met you, you've been nothing **but** trouble! It's like the floodgates of trouble suddenly opened up, releasing an endless flow of... well... trouble, upon us!"

"I admit that this was my fault. But it was never my true intention. The darkness within my horns was too powerful. Over the years, they overwhelmed me. My single third unicorn horn just didn't have the strength to compete with my two corrupted ones."

"What where you even _trying_ to accomplish?" asked Clover.

"I wanted to purge the world of all demons. They nearly drove my kind to extinction. But along the way, I allowed my first two horns to be corrupted. I thought I could control them. I thought I could use them to take influence over any demons I came across. But it wasn't what I had intended. Instead, the powers of the horns took influence over me."

"One cannot just go around, committing genocide like this," said Bravia.

"I'm sorry," said Ronodin. "I never intended for this whole thing to spiral out of control the way it did. It was my horns that drove me to this point."

"It wouldn't have ended with the demons," said Bracken. "Even if you had succeeding in destroying every last one, you likely would've developed delusions of grandeur. That you should be exalted as some sort of self-appointed unicorn king. And you still would've had your corrupted horns."

"I realize that. Deep down I would've regretted it. But my horns wouldn't have let me stop there. I'd become something I never wanted to be. In fact, by corrupting my horns and falling victim to them, I already turned myself into what I truly despised, even though I wanted to stop the demons all along in the first place."

"I don't mean to change the subject," said Skyfrost, "but what's the deal with Maelstrom?"

"And that fairy you were with?" noted Firesquall.

" _I'm right here_ ," hummed Melody, as she flew up towards the center of the crowd. In her diminutive form, her voice was tiny, and she had to stop to gasp for breath.

"Melody is a lyrabelle," said Ronodin. "A superbulb of one, technically. And my first successful superbulb at that."

" _Please, there's something I must say_!" exclaimed Melody in her tiny voice.

"Here," said Seth, as he allowed his wings to exert their golden glow. In a flash of light, Melody shot up to her full-body human size.

" _How could you allow Victor to die, Ronodin_?"

"It was an accident," stated Ronodin. "I never wanted to harm him. I never wanted to hurt anyone. It's why I transported you all out of the preserve when I did. I needed you out of my way. Demons may have been my enemy, but I never wanted to harm others. Even with my corrupted horns, my inner self meant no harm to anyone."

" _You still allowed a superbulb to perish. Are we inferior to original beings? Do you see us as nothing but mere tools?"_

"Of course not. It was Victor's predisposition to respect me. And I respected him back, even if I could not prevent what my nightmare form did to him. I'm truly devastated at what happened. I can't bring him back. Not even if I wanted to. I only ever managed to develop but two superbulbs. One grew into you, Melody. The other became Victor."

" _I understand. But I am not happy_."

"Neither am I," said Ronodin. "You'd think I would be, now that I am finally a proper unicorn once again, and that my corrupted horns are gone. But I cannot enjoy this moment, knowing that my own greed and recklessness led to an innocent being, one whom I had developed feelings towards, to lose his life."

"Are you going to be okay, Melody?" asked Opal.

" _I'm just upset_ ," sang the lyrabelle. " _But there's something I need to say. Something concerning Maelstrom_."

Everyone looked over at Maelstrom, who was still confined within Kendra's energy chains.

"Maelstrom, it's me," said Ronodin. "Can someone remove those chains from her?"

"I'll do it," said Kendra. "But she has to promise not to attack us."

Still able to move her neck, Maelstrom nodded.

Kendra held Vasilis forward, aiming it towards the coppery wyvern. The chain that had been wrapped around Maelstrom's snout suddenly became unraveled, allowing her to open her mouth once again.

" _Thank you_ ," said Melody. " _Now, there's something that I have deduce, and it concerns you, Maelstrom. Seth, you stated that your wyvern allies came from Cloud Canyon, yes?"_

"We do..." said Skyfrost, sounding intrigued.

"Is he actually speaking English?" asked Ronodin, who looked stunned. "How?"

" _Please listen_!" blurted Melody. " _Wyverns, does the name Thundertorch mean anything to you_?"

"Thundertorch?" gasped Firesquall. "That was our mom's name."

Melody, Ronodin and Maelstrom all appeared to be startled.

"How do you know her?" asked Skyfrost.

" _According to Maelstrom, Thundertorch was one of the few surviving wyverns who remained at Cloud Canyon, even after Revlogg started either killing or driving away most of the inhabitants_."

"How do you know about our mom?" asked Firesquall.

" _Thundertorch was Maelstrom's sister_ ," replied Melody. " _If you're her sons, then that means that Maelstrom here is your aunt_."

"Maelstrom," said Skyfrost. "Is this true?"

Maelstrom let out a soft growl and nodded.

"No way..." said Seth.

"She's really related to them?" asked Ingrid. "I mean, no offense or anything, but Maelstrom isn't exactly the kindest character we've come across."

"Maelstrom is an adult wyvern," replied Geminus. "And a female at that. Skyfrost and Firesquall are kind largely in part because they've been tamed at a young age.

"There's one thing I don't get," said Clover. "Can someone ask Maelstrom why she allied herself with Ronodin?"

"Okay," said Skyfrost, as he turned to face Maelstrom. "They want to know why you allied yourself with Ronodin."

Maelstrom let out several grumbles, which Kendra assumed had to have been Draconian tongue.

"She says that she didn't feel safe after leaving Cloud Canyon, and that she would fall prey to the evils of the outside world."

Maelstrom continued to mutter several more unintelligible grumbles.

"When Ronodin discovered her one day, he vowed that he was vying to one day destroy all demons living in this world," said Firesquall. "Also, she was impressed with Ronodin's power."

"So they joined forces, because they found that they shared the same goal," said Bracken.

"That's exactly it," said Ronodin. "I admit that I was impressed with Maelstrom's power as well.

"And what about Melody?" asked Kendra. "I know now that she's an enhanced stingbulb. But how did she come to be?"

"I felt that I was in need of assistance. I wanted a fairy that could aid me. One who could do so in a way that I could not. I needed fairy who would be loyal to me. But no fairy would trust a dark unicorn. I eventually learned about stingbulbs, and managed to procure a few. But their limitations left me unsatisfied. So I developed my own enhancements to them. I made them capable of living full lives, and retaining the abilities of the original beings whom they copied."

"So Melody..."

"Was duplicated from a lyrabelle belonging to a fairy trader." answered Ronodin. "Correct. But without my enhancements, she wouldn't have had the powers of a lyrabelle, or any fairy for that matter. When the superbulb experiment proved to be a success, I then granted Melody more power. A normal lyrabelle is nowhere near this powerful.

"What's going to happen to Melody?" asked Kendra. "And Maelstrom? And Ronodin, for that matter?"

"That's... a good question," replied Warren. "This seems a tad out of my league, even as a lieutenant of the Knights of the Dawn. Brillia, do you have any suggestions?"

"I'll speak with Mother about this," answered Brillia. "For now, I propose that you transport Ronodin and Melody to the dungeon at Fablehaven, just for the time being."

" _Are you imprisoning us_?" hummed Melody, who sounded legitimately worried.

"Temporarily. Until we figure out what to do with you. You've caused a tremendous amount of trouble for all of us."

"I know," said Ronodin. "And I'm sorry. You may imprison me for my actions. I deserve it."

"And Melody, as a superbulb, you were inclined to follow Ronodin's orders, regardless of the fact that you may have defected from him at some point. However, it still doesn't mean we entirely trust you. You will also need to be locked for the moment."

Melody winced. " _I understand_."

"What about Maelstrom?" asked Raxtus, looking over at the wrangled wyvern.

"She was loyal to me, but she was not your enemy," replied Ronodin. "She attacked not with the intention to hurt, but to stop you. I take full blame for her actions."

"I don't know what we should do with her," said Brook.

"If you don't mind, Firesquall and I have a suggestion," said Skyfrost.

"What's that?" asked Seth.

"Maelstrom is our aunt," said Firesquall. "Maybe she could come and live with us at Fablehaven."

"Yeah!" chimed in Skyfrost. "We were hostile at first ourselves, but..."

Warren shook his head, as did several other. "No way. Absolutely not."

"Fablehaven is no place for an adult wyvern like Maelstrom," said Bracken. "And that's without even so much as factoring in her recent actions."

"She needs a home?" asked Ingrid. "Why not Wyrmroost? Or one of the other dragon sanctuaries?"

"Of course!" said Skyfrost. "Maelstrom, what would you say to living in a dragon sanctuary? You'd be with your own kind and everything."

Maelstrom let out several more grumbles in response. The other dragons remained speechless after she finished.

"What did she say?" asked Seth.

"Maelstrom refuses to live within the confines of a dragon sanctuary," replied Raxtus. "She wishes to remain a free being."

"So what are we supposed to do, then?" asked Kendra.

"I don't know if there's much we can do," said Brillia. "Wyverns are very powerful creatures, and they don't exactly fall within our... _jurisdiction_."

"What if she agrees not to harm anyone?" asked Firesquall. "If we leave her alone, that is."

"I'm not too enthralled about that idea," said Bright. "We hardly even know about her intentions, let alone anything to do with her as an individual."

"Okay," said Skyfrost, turning to face Maelstrom. "We've agreed to let you go, so long as you promise to not harm any innocent beings."

Maelstrom gave a brief response.

"She agrees," said Firesquall. "But Maelstrom, must you leave us? We're family, and we don't even know each other."

"We're your nephews!" exclaimed Skyfrost. "Come on!"

Maelstrom gave another response, which went on a fair bit longer than her previous one. Once she finished, Skyfrost and Firesquall remained silent. Both of them appeared to be glum.

"What'd she say?" asked Ingrid.

Raxtus sighed. "Maelstrom feels that while they may be relatives, Skyfrost and Firesquall are not her responsibility. She resents them for choosing to live at Fablehaven, and believes that they will not be raised properly. That they will grow up too soft."

"But she's your aunt!" said Seth. "She's your mother's sister."

"She doesn't care that they're Thundertorch's sons," said Geminus. "I don't believe that there's any reasoning with her. We should probably just let her go."

"She's not our enemy," said Raxtus. "But at the same time, she's not our ally either."

"Okay," said Kendra. "I'll release her. But she has to promise **not** to attack us."

"She won't," said Ronodin. "You may release her."

Kendra pointed Vasilis towards Maelstrom, making sure to aim its tip directly at the energy chains that it had previously conjured up and wrapped around her. Focusing on the chains, Kendra clenched the hilt of Vasilis firmly in her hands.

Suddenly, the chains that Maelstrom had been ensnared in began to unravel. Once the wyvern was completely free, the energy-based chains went flying back towards Vasilis, shrinking in size as they neared the blade, then phasing back into the sword from whence they came.

Now free, Maelstrom stood up on her feet and extended her wings. She raised her head upwards and let out another growl.

"What's she doing?" asked Seth.

Maelstrom flapped her wings, then let out another intimidating roar. She then leapt up into the air, and began to fly off.

"No, come back!" exclaimed Skyfrost, as he and Firesquall both took off after Maelstrom.

"Come back!" shouted Warren.

"Her last word was _farewell_ ," said Geminus.

As Skyfrost and Firesquall caught up with Maelstrom, their aunt retaliated by exhaling a massive cloud of green gas at the two of them. The twins veered out of the cloud that had engulfed them, and soared back down towards the island.

"What _was_ that?" asked Kendra, once Skyfrost and Firesquall had landed. Both of them appeared to look somewhat queasy.

"I dunno," groaned Skyfrost.

"I feel sick..." sighed Firesquall.

"You guys okay?" asked Warren, as he rubbed his hands upon the wyvern's snouts. They both responded by shaking their heads.

"They'll be fine," said Geminus, as she exerted a pink mist from her mouth, which quickly encompassed Skyfrost and Firesquall. "I can heal their ailments. But not their broken hearts."

"Poor guys," said Kendra. "I know how they must feel. I can feel it myself. But to be them and experience it..."

"Let's try to look forwards," said Brillia. "Knights of the Dawn, I ask that you transport Ronodin and Melody back to Fablehaven for the moment, while I inquire about the situation to Mother."

"Understood," said Warren. "We'll transport everyone back to Fablehaven, then."

"Hold on a moment," said Ingrid. "What about this yard that's just floating up in the sky? And the whole World's End preserve, for that matter?"

"One thing at a time," said Bracken. "Let's just get everyone back to Fablehaven for now. "We should be able to return the land we are standing upon back to World's End once we regain our strength, so it's nothing to be too concerned about. As for the preserve of World's End as a whole..."

"I'll speak to Stan about it," said Warren, as he removed the Translocator from his bag "He'll know what to do."

"What about Victor?" asked Seth, looking down at the fallen superbulb.

"He's coming too," said Ronodin. "Even if it's too late to help him."

Warren then wound up the Translocator and held it out. At that point, most of the fairies made themselves disappear, while the others all made contact with the mystical artifact.

" _Do we just place our hand upon it_?" asked Melody.

"Yeah," said Kendra. "Ronodin, could you assume your human form again?"

"Understood," said Ronodin, as he transformed back into a human. Even though he was no longer a nightmare, his human form still looked like it normally did.

"Here goes," said Seth, as he held up Victor's hand and pressed it against the Translocator.

"Let's do this," said Warren. Once everyone was touching the Translocator, he twisted it.

In a blur, the floating yard of World's End had been replaced with the yard from Fablehaven. They did it. They were home.

"Come with us," said Bracken, once he and the other fairies all reappeared.

Bracken, Bright and Clover all escorted Ronodin and Melody up towards the house, prompting Kendra, Ingrid and Warren to follow them.

"I wanna stay here," said Seth. "With Victor."

"I understand," said Kendra, as she and the others walked onto the porch and entered through the front door.

"You're back?" came Grandma's voice from another room.

"Oh my god," said Grandpa, as he and the other adults stepped into the entry hall. "Is that... Ronodin?"

"And that fairy he was with?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"They've surrendered," said Kendra. "They've promised not to harm us."

"Why'd you bring them **here**?" blurted Grandma.

"We needed a place to hold them," said Bright.

"Permission to place the prisoners in the dungeon?" asked Warren.

Grandpa sighed. "Granted. But, how long are they going to be here?"

"Bracken, my sisters and I are going to head back to speak with Mother after all this," said Bright. "It shouldn't be for very long."

"Come on," said Dale. "Let's get these two downstairs."


	35. Fates

**Chapter 35: Fates**

For the rest of the day, the family remained at Fablehaven. Ronodin and Melody had both voluntarily allowed the Sorensons to jail them down in the dungeon. As tempted as they were to interrogate their new prisoners, the family left the two of them alone, with Ronodin and Melody both relegated to their own separate cells.

As for Seth, he spent much of the day in the living room, where Victor had been placed upon the couch in a laying-down position.

Seth could not get over just how perfectly Victor resembled him. Everything about Victor was the same, right down to the last birthmark. And here Seth was, with the one who could've been the perfect brother, had things worked out differently.

At one point, Kendra and Ingrid both walked into the living room, where Seth was kneeling in front of the couch where Victor's corpse was resting.

"Hey, Seth," said Kendra.

"You okay?" asked Ingrid. "I know you feel connected to Victor and everything. But did you really even know him that well? Besides the fact that he was, in a way... you?"

"I didn't know Victor for who he really was," sighed Seth. "Not by a longshot. I only got to be with him for a few minutes. And most of that time, we were in danger."

"We know he was special to you," said Kendra.

"It's what I _didn't_ get out of all this that's upset me," said Seth. "Why did Victor have to die? I know it was an accident, but Victor could've lived! He could've lived with us! For once in my life... I could've had a brother!"

"I don't know if this household could handle another Seth," said Kendra.

Seth groaned, "You know, maybe if you didn't tease me so much, I'd be okay with not having a brother..."

"You're the one who's _always_ teasing me, Seth."

"Would you shut up?" asked Seth, as he turned himself back to facing Victor.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Ingrid.

"Ingrid!" said Kendra. "Calm down!"

"You want me to calm down? Then get along!"

"Would you shut up?" said Seth. "I'm not in the mood for this crap! My own clone just died here!"

"This isn't about Victor," said Ingrid. "Now listen to me! It's about you, Seth. And Kendra. I wish you two would stop fighting with each other!"

"Ingrid, we're siblings," said Kendra. "Fighting each other is practically genetic."

"I can't understand why you two fight so much! I realize people don't always get along. And I know you can't exactly pick your family. But you should respect each other. Especially during a time of grieving. You're fortunate enough to have each other."

"I'm sorry," said Kendra. "I started it."

Kendra knelt down next to Seth and embraced him in a hug. "I'm glad you're my brother," she said.

"Sister or brother," said Seth, hugging Kendra back, "I'm glad you're mine. Even if I don't always show it. I love you."

"I love you both," said Ingrid, as she joined in on the group hug that was taking place.

Eventually, the day came to an end. Seth had gotten over the fact that Victor was no longer alive, however, he felt that he would always find the thought of Victor's fate somewhat disconcerting.

During dinner, Mrs. Sorenson announced that they should look into performing a small burial for Victor at some point. Everyone agreed.

Soon it had gotten late into the evening, which meant that it was time for the household to go to bed. Seth had changed into his bed clothes and was now in his room. But, rather than sitting in his bed. Seth stared out the window, looking up at the stars that dotted the sky above.

As he observed the stars, Seth thought about how none of the fairies had returned from the Fairy Kingdom to reveal the Fairy Queen's verdict about Ronodin. What was taking them so long? The Fairy Queen had probably already reached a decision, and was no doubt just waiting to announce it the following morning. Seth understood the logistics behind such an action. But at the same time, he hated having to wait for this sort of thing.

The following morning, after everyone had awoken from a good night's sleep, the family all made their way into the dining room. As they passed through the kitchen, Kendra and Seth were greeted by Grandma, who was in the middle of frying up some hash browns on the stove.

Now that he had gotten some sleep and was eating once more, Seth was feeling a lot better inside. Still, he yearned to know what was going on over in the Fairy Kingdom.

At some point, a knock could be heard coming from the front door.

"I'll get it," said Mr. Sorenson, as he got up from his seat and left the dining room, heading towards the entry hall. "Come in," came Mr. Sorenson's voice from down the hall.

Mr. Sorenson then made his way back to the dining room, now accompanied by Bracken.

"Hey, everyone," said Bracken, as he nodded at the family.

"Bracken!" cried Kendra, as she got up from her seat and gave the unicorn a hug. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Well, it's official," said Bracken. "Mother is coming here to Fablehaven to speak to Ronodin about his fate."

"Yeah, what is it?" asked Seth.

"She hasn't told anyone yet. But we'll find out. She asks that you escort both Ronodin and Melody out of the dungeon and bring them outside when she arrives, which will be in one hour from now."

"Seems a little peculiar," said Grandpa. "But, if this is her decision, I'm not going to question it."

"We do intend to have a burial for Victor at some point as well," said Mrs. Sorenson. "Even though he wasn't officially a family member, he _was_ a part of Seth.

"Maybe you could do it after Mother makes her announcement," said Bracken. "Ronodin and Melody would be there. And I did get the impression that they had genuine feelings for Victor."

"It's awkward," said Grandma, "but I understand where you're coming from. I guess we can do both things at the same time."

After breakfast, the family washed up and changed into their best clothes. Warren, Dale and Bracken all went down into the basement, then came back upstairs, now accompanied by Ronodin and Melody.

Melody, however, was no longer human-sized. Instead, she was back to her standard fairy size, and was fluttering in the air next to Ronodin.

"Melody, what happened to you?" asked Seth, eyeing the diminutive fairy.

" _This is my true form_ ," replied Melody. " _Nothing about me has changed_."

"Melody was down there all night?" asked Kendra. "How come she didn't turn back into an imp?"

"The dungeon has special safeguards and protections," replied Dale. "It's very risky and restrictive to enact such enchantments over the residence. But in a place like the dungeon, having them brings about no real harm."

"Ronodin seems awfully... quiet," said Ingrid.

"This is the calm before the storm," said Warren. "We don't know what the Fairy Queen will have in store for him."

Several minutes later, everyone had made their way out into the backyard, where several rows of seats had been set up. As they walked down the patio, Seth and Kendra noticed an open casket where Victor was now laying.

"It's almost time," said Bracken. "Everyone take a seat. Except for you, Ronodin and Melody. You two come up here with me."

The family all sat down in a row of seats that were facing the back of the house. Bracken walked up onto the patio, prompting Ronodin and Melody to follow his lead.

"Now what?" asked Seth.

"We wait," replied Bracken. "Won't be much longer."

While they waited, several other familiar faces entered the yard, including the dragons, Stargleam, Windshear, the reindeer and Newel and Doren.

A few minutes later, a line of fairy angels came walking around the side of the house. With them, in addition to the Fairy Queen, was Air Flair.

"Welcome, your majesty," said Grandpa, nodding as the royal made her entrance and prompting the others to follow his lead.

"Air Flair?" asked Kendra. "Hi! Uh, we weren't expecting you, but welcome."

"She insisted on visiting when I mentioned all this," said Clover. "Wingadoon will be fine as Hope is still there."

"We heard about Victor," said Air Flair. "He may have had some angelic quality to him. Hope wanted to come as well, but one of us needed to stay behind. I must say this home of yours is gorgeous."

Once everyone was seated, the Fairy Queen proceeded to clear her throat, bringing an end to all the chit-chat that was going on between the audience members.

"Good morning, everyone," said the Fairy Queen, who was standing on the top step of the patio, facing the audience that sat before her. "Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to pay tribute to Victor."

"I'm... sorry," said Ronodin, as tears started to form up in his eyes.

"None of us knew much about Victor," said Seth. "But I could relate to him. "He was a lot like me. Not just in appearance, but in personality."

"He would've been a lot like you, Seth," said Ronodin. "But admittedly, my former self didn't care about that. He was just obsessed with gaining power. I just wish we had more to say about him as an individual, rather than drawing parallels."

"He didn't have a chance," said Mrs. Sorenson. "But if he was anything like you, Seth, then he was a wonderful person. Just remember that."

The Fairy Queen nodded. "Okay then. Ronodin, I ask that you stand before me."

"I understand," said Ronodin, sounding understandably hesitant and walked up to the Fairy Queen.

The Fairy Queen took a good, long look at Ronodin. As Ronodin remained still, the Fairy Queen slowly walked around him, studying him intently as though his body was some sort of work of art.

"Ronodin," said the Fairy Queen, "I do not detect any sort of darkness lingering within you. You no longer appear to be the unicorn who defected from our kind. How do you feel?"

"Relieved," replied Ronodin. "But also sad. I've committed many horrific things, especially recently. Even though the darkness that compelled me is gone, I still feel guilty." Ronodin then sighed. "How long will I be locked up for?"

"I don't know if locking you up is all that necessary. Provided you've _learned_ from all this."

"Believe me. I have. But, if you're not locking me up somewhere, what do you intend to do instead?"

"I believe that given the situation at hand, you deserve some sort of parole. You won't be completely free, but you won't be jailed either."

"What's this all about?" asked Ingrid. "What if something goes wrong?"

"This wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened," replied the Fairy Queen. "Shayflee, would you come forward please?"

A small, yellow fairy came whizzing towards the Fairy Queen from off to the side somewhere.

"Shayflee?" asked Seth. "Who's _she_?"

"You may not recognize her now," replied the Fairy Queen. "But at one point, this Fairy was best known to us as _Obivion_."

" _THAT'S OBLIVION_?" gasped Kendra. "I mean, I know she's different now, but..."

"This is her true self, now completely free of darkness. You see, Oblivion, I mean... Shayflee, has been free from the darkness that had consumed her for months. The fairies have been keeping a constant watch on her, just to be safe, but her behavior has been excellent. I figure that if Shayflee could redeem herself, it's only fair to give Ronodin a chance."

"You really mean it?" asked Ronodin.

"That's correct," said the Fairy Queen. "You and Melody both. You can't just take off, as you'll be living under some form of supervision. But so long as you don't cause any more trouble, you'll be fine."

" _Oh, thank you_!" hummed Melody.

"Question is," said Bright, "where exactly are Ronodin and Melody going to end up?"

"They could come back to the Fairy Kingdom," said Shiara. "It's where Shayflee lives."

Shayflee nodded in approval.

" _This place seems beautiful to me_ ," sang Melody. " _Couldn't I just stay here_?"

Bracken scratched his cheek "I _suppose_ so... You're power isn't very strong anymore. Still, I'd have to keep an eye on you, as you well know. Of course, Passion, Larissa and Goldenrod could watch out for you as well."

" _You mean it_? _I don't intend to bring about any more harm at all_!"

Bracken smiled and nodded. "If it's okay with the Fairy Queen."

"Approved," said the Fairy Queen. "Now, that just leaves you, Ronodin. And with all due respect, you're a much bigger concern to our kind than Melody was."

"Understood," said Ronodin, looking at the yard that stood around him, before stopping to stare in one specific direction. "Um, would you excuse me for a moment?"

Ronodin walked down the steps of the patio and made his way past the row of chairs where everyone was seated.

"Excuse me!" quipped Grandpa, "But where do you think _you're_ going?"

Ronodin walked up to the spot where Stargleam, Windshear and Air Flair were standing. He appeared to be in awe, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Another unicorn..." said Ronodin. "And _two_ pegasi?"

Stargleam and Windshear pressed their sides together, then lowered their heads in unison. Ronodin then took a good look at Air Flair, who didn't have someone to side with.

"You're... you're _beautiful_..." sighed Ronodin. "And you're a mare, too."

"What do you want from me?" asked Air Flair.

Without responding, Ronodin transformed from his human avatar into his unicorn form. As many members of the crowd had yet to see it through their own eyes, they were all astonished at what they saw, and Air Flair was no exception.

"Don't you _dare_ get any ideas, Ronodin," said Bracken.

"I would never allow any harm to befall this beautiful creature," said Ronodin, as he gently tapped Air Flair's forehead with his horn. "What's your name?"

"Air Flair," replied the pink pegasus, sounding understandably nervous.

"Are you happy living here at Fablehaven?" asked Ronodin.

"I don't live here. I'm just visiting."

"Are there other pegasi where you're from?"

"Not anymore," replied Air Flair, shaking her head. "I'm the last one."

"I know how you feel."

"If you're really not bad anymore, maybe... would you like to visit... Wingadoon?"

"Air Flair, no!" exclaimed Kendra. "Your home is a very special place! Ronodin cannot go _there_!"

"I understand just how sacred Wingadoon is," said Air Flair. "More than anyone else here..."

"Wingadoon?" asked Ronodin,. "That place is still intact?"

"Kendra's right," said the Fairy Queen. "We cannot allow Ronodin to visit Wingadoon. It's too much of a risk."

Air Flair stood up on her hind legs and brought her front hooves down against the ground. "Now you listen to me! I want to be with Ronodin! My kind is on the verge of extinction! I can't pass up this phenomenal opportunity. I need him. Even if he has lived a very shady life."

"I don't appreciate it when others talk down to me," said the Fairy Queen. "Still, I understand your concern. But it doesn't change the fact that..."

"Your majesty!" said Clover, as she walked up to the Fairy Queen. "I must tell you something in secrecy and it cannot wait."

"Very well. Tell me."

Clover stood next to the Fairy Queen and placed her face up against the side of her head. She slid the Fairy Queen's hair away from covering her ear and whispered something to her. The Fairy Queen nodded once Clover had finished.

"Very well," said the Fairy Queen. "Ronodin, you are welcome to go back to Wingadoon with Air Flair."

Most members of the crowd gasped.

"It's quite all right," announced the Fairy Queen, as she raised her hands in a gesture. Clover will have things under control. But, Ronodin. If you so much as even think of causing the slightest amount of trouble, you will answer to **me**."

"I'm turning over a new leaf," said Ronodin. "In fact, I wish to put my past behind me, and be known as _Ronodin_ no longer."

"What do you mean?" asked Bracken.

"Ronodin is the name which everyone associates with a dark unicorn. But even then, I still had an M.O. A goal. I'd still like to someday try and better this world. Thus, from this moment forward, I have chosen to go by Ronodin no longer. From this moment forward, I'd like to be known as _Keenheart_."

"Keenheart?" asked Kendra. "As in _Jeremy Keenheart_?"

"Precisely. While the name was little more than a pseudonym, it truly did come from my heart. Dark horns or no dark horns."

"Very well," said the Fairy Queen. "Keenheart it is, then."

"Thank you," said Keenheart. "And when we travel to Wingadoon, I'm going to do everything that I can in my power to improve it."

After the Fairy Queen had finished talking, she brought the gathering to a close by dismissing everyone who was in attendance. Most of the fairy angels, as well as the Fairy Queen herself, were getting ready to return to the Fairy Kingdom. Likewise, Keenheart, still in his unicorn form, was off too one side with Clover, Air Flair and Warren. The entire Sorenson family were all standing before them.

"Well, this is it," said Clover. "If you're ready, Keenheart, we'll be off to Wingadoon."

"I'm so nervous," said Keenheart. "I've heard tales about Wingadoon, but I can't even begin to imagine what it looks like."

"Spoiler alert!" said Warren. "It's breathtaking. Absolutely stunning."

"You'll love it," said Air Flair.

"Can you really handle Keenheart, Clover?" asked Kendra. "You know... just in case?"

"I assure you there will be no _just in cases_ ," said Keenheart assuredly.

"If I can't handle him, Hope and Air Flair will be there to assist me," replied Clover. Along with all of my students."

"Are you sure we can we still trust him?" asked Ingrid.

Clover sighed. "Kendra, Seth, Ingrid, come with me." She then looked over to face the other family members. "We'll just be a moment. I need to talk to these kids alone. If you'll excuse us."

Clover walked around the side of the house, while Kendra, Seth and Ingrid followed her.

"Clover, what's this all about?" asked Seth.

"Do you want to know what I said to the Fairy Queen earlier?" asked Clover.

"Uh... yeah!" replied Ingrid. "How and why did you convince her into thinking that sending Keenheart to Wingadoon was a good idea?"

Clover smiled as her eyes lit up. "Wingadoon has some special properties to it. You see, the city's protective magic is constantly working to cleanse itself of darkness. It's not instantaneous, but it will kick in before long. If somehow all that Keenheart has been telling us has been nothing more than a facade, then Wingadoon's power will completely obliterate him. His betrayal would be over before it even started."

"That actually sounds pretty harsh," said Kendra, who was having a hard time absorbing what Clover had told them.

"We're giving Keenheart a second chance," said Clover. "If he hasn't changed his ways, and there is still darkness lurking within his soul, he will _no_ t be getting a third."

"Understood," replied Kendra, as Seth and Ingrid nodded in approval.

Clover and the kids then made their way back to the others were still waiting around for them. Off in the distance, Melody was flying about, singing a song, while a group of fairies trailed behind her.

"What was that all about?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Seth, not wanting to reveal the truth in front of Keenheart.

"Well, this is it," said Warren, as he twisted the Translocator. "We're off to Wingadoon!"

"Thank you so much for you help," said Keenheart, as he bobbed his head down and set his horn upon the Translocator. "I hope I can repay you for your efforts someday."

"Of course," said Grandpa. "Just make sure to stay out of trouble from now on."

"Oh, he will," said Clover, nodding towards Kendra, Seth and Ingrid.

"Goodbye, everybody!" said Air Flair, as she set one of her wings onto the Translocator, concealing Keenheart's horn and the hands of Warren and Clover.

"See you in a flash!" said Warren, as he reached his other hand underneath Air Flair's wing and twisted the Translocator. In an instant, Warren, Clover, Air Flair and Keenheart all disappeared.

"You know something?" said Kendra. "I'm proud of all of us. Even though we were unable to save Victor, we _did_ manage to redeem Ronodin. I mean, Keenheart."

"Yeah," said Ingrid. "Besides, I don't think the world could handle more than one Seth."

"HEY!" snapped Seth.

"I'm just kidding!" laughed Ingrid, concealing her mouth with her hand. "Come here, you!"

Ingrid then threw her arms around Seth and embraced her brother in a hug. Seth smiled, as he in turn hugged her back.

 **The End**

 **A/N: I am still contemplating over whether I will write a tenth story and final story. If people show enough interest I will look into it, but it won't be right away.**


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